What studio doesn't dream of the type of success and longevity that Minecraft has? Not only is it the second-biggest game ever in terms of sales, its rise from a solo indie project to world domination is one of the most noteworthy in all of gaming.

But is this popularity starting to wane a little? I must admit, even as a fan who recently got back into the game (again), I wonder how much life is left in the old girl. However, according to a study conducted back in December 2024, more than a few players think Minecraft's juggernaut is unlikely to slow down any time soon.

The study was conducted by Liquid Web (login required, unfortunately), which asked 1,000 users about their playing habits. Admittedly, that might not seem like many people to survey in the grand scheme of things, but the results are pretty interesting.

A small percentage play the game daily, at least

Perhaps one of my favorite statistics is that around 30% of Minecraft players still have their first-ever save file. Now, I can't imagine how they've managed to keep hold of their maiden world unless they've been playing recently. Do any of you still have your first save? I don't even have my first car, and I only passed my driving test a few years ago.

The study from Liquid Web also shows that players still feel Minecraft has a strong future. For example, four out of five players who are classed as Gen Z think the game will still be popular in a decade's time, while 25% said they would be willing to pay to access new features.

Additionally, around half feel that "player creativity and user-generated content" is the reason they keep playing, while two out of five players say Minecraft mods and/or customer servers are "essential to their enjoyment."

It should be reiterated that this is based on 1,000 users surveyed, so take from that what you will. But if we learn anything from this data, it's that we probably won't be seeing a Minecraft 2 any time soon.

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The power of PC gaming means you can experience the eye-melting crispness of some of the most advanced graphics around. If you have the juice for it, natch. With something like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, you don't necessarily need a monster rig, but you may still want an enhanced performance.

Say you want to run Warhorse Studios' new game through Steam, but you're not confident in your PC's hardware capabilities, well this is where modding comes to the rescue. Thanks to Nexus Mods user Jindra1403, you can reduce the visuals in Deliverance 2 beyond what the vanilla release ideally wants.

This comes in two flavors: Very Low and Ultra Low, both of which do exactly what you'd expect. The former will allow you to "run the game at acceptable frame rates on systems with much lower specifications than those minimal required by the game."

Who needs textures, anyway?

If, however, you need to be doubly sure Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 will run smoothly, the latter reduces graphical fidelity even more. The images show what can only be described as a "smooth" character, one devoid of any detail. But, crucially, it will allow you to run the game on lower-spec systems.

Also, the overall resolution for both mods has been "brute forced to HD (1280x720)," with V-Sync turned off for Ultra Low settings. You can change this in Notepad if you wish. It's also worth noting that neither of these mods will "interfere with or change DLSS/FSR settings," though Jindra1403 suggests leaving them off. You may also encounter a couple of issues, given that these settings take the game below expectations in terms of visuals.

According to Steam, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 doesn't require anything too beastly if you just want to run it at minimum requirements. It's only once you're aiming for recommended settings that we start to see words like "RTX 4070" crop up.

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After a few years of waiting, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 dropped, and it seems to be doing pretty well for itself. In the midst of thousands of players stepping back into the boots of Henry, developer Warhorse Studios has been getting praise from one of the industry's biggest names.

In a recent post on X, CD Projekt Red posted to its Witcher account to wish congratulations on the release of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. The heartfelt message also wishes for your blade to "always be sharp," and is accompanied by a friendly image of Geralt of Rivia embracing young Henry in what I can only describe as something the cool kids may refer to as some sort of "bromance." Correct me if I'm wrong, obviously.

Warhorse itself posted a response under this post, thanking CDPR for the kudos, adding that the team was "raising a glass to you now."

Kingdom Come: Johnny Silverhand edition

Interpret it as some sort of corporate publicity thing if you will, but it is quite nice to see some of gaming's biggest studios giving props when new titles come out. It probably helps that The Witcher and Kingdom Come series both have similar vibes and aesthetics. Watch out for a mod that plops Geralt right into the heart of Bohemia [citation needed].

As mentioned above, Deliverance 2 has been doing pretty well within the last 24 hours. According to recent data from SteamDB – which tracks all things related to Steam – the game peaked at nearly 160,000 players since yesterday. At the time of writing, about 130,000 Henries (plural) are adventuring.

By the way, if it's been a while since you played the original or you're completely new to the series (as I am), the studio very handily put out of Story Recap video recently. That should bring you up to speed before you go diving straight into Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.

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The sequel to 2018's Kingdom Come: Deliverance – conveniently called Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 – will be dropping today. Now, it's been a few years since the first game, so what if you've forgotten the story? Or, what if, like me, you're not familiar with the original?

Well, fear not. Developer Warhorse Studios has evidently taken that into account by providing a handy Story Recap. Whether you're new to the series or just need a reminder, the below 10-minute video will bring you up to speed, just in time for the sequel.

You'll be taken all the way back to the events of the first Kingdom Come: Deliverance, which followed Henry on a quest to avenge the murder of his father. We get to see him join the service of Lord Radzig Kobyla, as he seeks to retrieve his father's sword while fighting in the resistance.

The deliverance of plot

According to Steam, Deliverance 2 is scheduled to release in just a few hours. The sequel follows on directly from the first game, which will see you take on the role of Henry once more, as he, again, embarks on a "journey of epic proportions."

The Story Recap, despite being 10 minutes long, is actually a really handy way to learn all you need to know before diving into the new release. I must admit, having not played Kingdom Come: Deliverance, I find it quite useful – and refreshing – that Warhorse Studios has seen to make sure nobody has to go into the sequel blind.

It also answers the question I had hanging above me about whether you needed to play the first game in the series in order to enjoy this one. If anything, having the story recapped for me in a convenient video format only makes me want to play Deliverance 2 more. The last time I saw a developer doing something like this was for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. But maybe I've not been paying enough attention to sequels recently.

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It feels like the announcement of the Nintendo Switch 2 was a long time coming. We've been anticipating it for a few years now, especially with the OG Switch now very much reaching the end of its lifecycle.

In fact, sales of the hybrid console suggest everyone's on tenterhooks, just waiting for the arrival of the Switch 2. In a recent financial report, Nintendo said that sales have decreased once more, with net profits down by 31.4% year-on-year.

A further statement in the report says that sales from the company's "game console business decreased by 31.7% year-on-year to 895.5 billion yen." Nintendo even saw a decrease in "mobile and IP related income," which is being blamed on a decrease in sales on the likes of The Super Mario Bros. Movie that was released in April 2023.

Switching over

Despite even sales of the Nintendo Switch OLED edition dropping when compared to the last financial year, it wasn't all bad news. Sure, sales of Nintendo first-party games also dipped somewhat, but the likes of Super Mario Jamboree and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe have now sold 6.17 million and 5.38 million units, respectively.

In fact, according to the report, Jamboree's "cumulative global sell-through" exceeded 5.6 million copies within the first eleven weeks of its release. This means it surpassed the "pace of sales" when compared to other Switch games like Super Mario Party and Mario Party Superstars.

However, the decline in sales overall won't come as a great surprise to many. It seems fairly clear that the gaming industry is just now waiting for the release of the Switch 2.

Nintendo announced the follow-up system recently, but we don't have a release date for it yet. We've been told it's coming sometime this year and that more details are to follow at the next Nintendo Direct, which is scheduled for April. No doubt, sales of the original Switch are only going to decline as we go forward.

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Here's a fun fact: at the end of this year, Fallout 4 will officially turn ten years old. Okay, maybe that's not such a fun fact. Time is a terrifying concept, as we all know. But at least there are mods to distract us from the inevitable.

In this case, it seems that someone had the thought: "Hey, why shouldn't the Tyrants from Resident Evil get to play in the Commonwealth?" And lo, they did create Reign of the Tyrants, a mod for Fallout 4 that does just that.

It kind of makes sense, when you think about it. I mean, much of the Fallout universe is built on the idea of a post-apocalyptic society that's awash with radiation a-plenty. Given the mutated state of RE's most brutish antagonists, it stands to reason that they should fit quite nicely into the Lone Survivor's merry jaunts across destroyed Boston.

Now with more Evil

According to its creator, gutrings, the mod simply adds a "wide variety" of Tyrants from the Resident Evil series as enemies. There are also new weapons and chems thrown in there for good measure. Oh, they also recommend only playing this if your character is level 30 or above. I guess they kept the tyrannical nature of these beasts when they added them in.

So far, there are four variants, totaling more than 50 spawns across the Commonwealth, as well as in the DLC Far Harbor. We can see from the images that we get Mr. X from the remakes of RE2 and RE3, as well as Nemesis, arguably the series' most notable (and hideous) Tyrant.

There's more to come as well, it seems. Going forward, gutrings intends to add the following to Reign of Tyrants:

• Tyrant combat music
• Improved character meshes
• New spawning areas
• Rebalance difficulty
• Tyrant settlement guards?

The question mark in that last one is intriguing.

Anyway, I was wondering why no one had done something like this before. Fallout 4 (well, the franchise on the whole) does feature zombified enemies, something Resident Evil is fairly well known for. Plus, the aforementioned mutated state of the Tyrants suggests this is one mod that's been a long time coming. Although, it doesn't seem to be the first time someone else has thought to add them in.

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At this point, it's tempting to pose the question: is there anybody, here in 2025, who hasn't yet played Minecraft? At last count, some 300 million copies had been sold, making it one of the best-selling video games of all time.

The only thing that beats it is Tetris, which has been out for way longer, anyway. But it's still pretty mind-blowing that a small indie game that began as a one-person passion project could go on to dominate the gaming landscape, with a legacy that endures more than 15 years on.

It almost feels a bit passé to still be talking about Minecraft, given its well-documented and enormous success. It's like asking whether you should still play Super Mario. Most gamers, even ones who haven't played it, are already well aware of what Mojang has contributed to the gaming world.

But it's often a good idea to take a step back with these things, to remind ourselves why the games we play endure for so long (Skyrim being another example). With that in-mind – and just in case there are people reading this who aren't familiar – let's look at why Minecraft is still worth playing in 2025.

Minecraft's future is far from over

When Microsoft bought Minecraft back in 2014 – effectively turning its creator into a billionaire – the game was only just beginning. I mean, it was already hugely successful (it had sold over 17 million copies by the end of 2012), but these were still technically the early days

True, the game was already enjoying success on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 – as well as on PC where it started – with Xbox One and PS4 versions coming just days before the acquisition. But Microsoft buying the game has led to a pretty enormous explosion in terms of content.

Just recently, it was announced there would be new cow variants, ambient desert sounds, and new bushes coming. These don't sound terribly exciting, admittedly, but it shows that Minecraft is still being tended to after a decade and a half.

And that's just the tip of the very blocky iceberg. Since 2014, there have been a ton of updates, including the long-awaited Caves and Cliffs. We've also had a slew of new mobs, and there have been several more ports, including for the Wii U, Nintendo Switch, and the PS5 (but not Xbox Series X|S, for some reason).

There are still a lot of things to come, some of which exist outside the physical game, including a couple of Minecraft theme parks. Then there's the upcoming live-action movie starring Jack Black. But let's not talk about that.

In short: we're nowhere near done with this thing.

Minecraft's replay value and universal appeal

One of Minecraft's greatest strengths, in my eyes, is its appeal to all audiences. Yes, on the surface, it seems like it's more suited for children, but I imagine the kind of person who says it's "just a kid's game" is also the kind of person who denies themselves a delicious and colorful cocktail because it's "not a proper drink, innit."

My point is that anyone can play Minecraft. Parents and children gather to boot up a world they've been constructing and exploring together. It's being passed down to the next generation. My young nephew has started playing it. Likewise, I know plenty of people in their 30s and above who keep going back to it.

The reason it has such universal appeal, even today, is because of the endless gameplay possibilities. Even from the very first iteration back in 2009, it was obvious that Minecraft had a lot to give. It has, quite frankly, perfected the open-world game mechanic that caters to all sorts of play styles, whether it's building or gathering resources; mining or crafting.

It's essentially LEGO in digital form, and who could resist the urge to pick up a few bricks and start constructing if given half the chance? It has a calming approach to gaming (save for a few hostile mobs) that you don't often get in modern titles. Minecraft endures because it just goes, "here, have fun with this."

Mods only add to it

Ah, mods. How I enjoy talking about them. Though I'm ashamed to admit I don't install as many as I'd like. Mainly because I have an aging laptop that's possibly close to death at this point. Shh, it's okay, laptop. We'll get through this.

Anyway, as if Minecraft wasn't near-infinite enough in its vanilla format, there are so, so many mods out there that stretch things beyond any kind of mental comprehension. Everything from texture packs that change how the game looks to adding in custom role-playing stories to weather changes to... this monstrosity.

Of course, you don't need to modify Minecraft in order to get the most out of it. In fact, you can probably play the standard game for years and still discover new things. But I've also tried to champion the efforts that fans put into customizing games, whether it's to improve on what the developer released or just because they can. You don't need to justify it sometimes.

What I'm saying is that Minecraft already offers an assortment of ways to keep you glued to the game as soon as you install it. But what's the harm in making it "infiniter" (do you like my new word)?

So, is Minecraft worth playing in 2025?

Look, I can see that this is coming across as a bit of arse-kissing. I'm not intending to say that Minecraft is the perfect video game (it's no Streets of Rage 2, for starters). I know it has its faults and, quite frankly, not everyone's a fan to begin with. To say nothing of the controversy surrounding its original developer...

But my girlfriend and I recently got back into the game, having basically just let it gather metaphorical dust on my Xbox. There's something to be said for a game that you can keep coming back to, even if you don't have any lofty ideas of what to do when you actually log in.

But whether you like Minecraft or not, the fact that it's still pulling in players some 15 years after it was released, the fact that it's the second biggest-selling game in history, the fact that it doesn't discriminate against who it feels should be playing it, the fact that it keeps growing in terms of official content and updates...these are the reasons it endures.

That a live-action movie adaptation is coming out says something about Minecraft's longevity. Okay, maybe it' might be's a little too late; the hype for the game has definitely waned over the years and traditional media is typically slow to catch on. But the game's broad appeal and replay value is something a lot of studios would give anything for.

So should you still play Minecraft in 2025? To paraphrase video game critic Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw: it's worth remembering that sometimes there's a reason why something is so popular.

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There's a lot of hype surrounding Doom: The Dark Ages, especially since the release date was announced, and we were treated to more footage recently. Evidently, id Software continues to move forward with the franchise. Though, where's the harm in holding onto the past?

As I've proven time and time again, Doom will never cease to be relevant so long as people keep modding it. This time, we're looking at a blend of old and new, as ModDB user duskredy brings us Darkfall, a mod for Doom 2 that adds in the weapons from The Dark Ages.

Currently in Early Access, it aims to seamlessly marry the two together. We still get the overall visuals of classic Doom, but the modder has incorporated the weapons from the upcoming game in an attempt to "match the official gameplay closely."

Yes, the Shield Saw appears to be present

Obviously, Darkfall can only do so much to match the energy and spirit of Doom: The Dark Ages, seeing as the actual game isn't out yet. As such, the mod is probably relying heavily on the trailers we've been getting, which is still something.

It's nice to see the Shield Saw has made it into Doom 2, as well. This was one of the stand-out items (for me, at least) when we first got a glimpse. It must have made something of an impact, because another modder added the shield to Doom back in June of last year.

If you haven't been keeping up, The Dark Ages is due to release on May 15 and will be coming to PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5. And yes, if you are wondering, it will be available on Game Pass from day one. It's also going to be a prequel. Whether it will equal (or surpass) the success of the 2016 reboot and 2020's Eternal remains to be seen at this stage.

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It's been a hot minute since we've had a new Mass Effect release, not including the Legendary Edition that came out in 2021. There is a follow-up in development, but a recent post suggests the studio may be downsizing, or is at least restructuring.

According to Gary McCay – the current General Manager at BioWare – the next entry in Mass Effect will be handled by a "core team" going forward. It seems as though developers who worked on Dragon Age: The Vailguard are being moved over to the new project.

This information follows an announcement from August 2023 that said the company would be "changing how we build games to meet the needs of our upcoming projects and hold ourselves to the highest quality standards."

Carefully chosen language

McCay goes on to say that BioWare is "taking this opportunity between full development cycles to reimagine" how the team works. As such, the upcoming Mass Effect game doesn't require support from "the full studio."

Do note that at no point does the blog post say that BioWare is actually initiating layoffs or terminating roles at the company. However, the language employed does seem to skirt around this. In fact, a report from IGN, some people at the company have been relocated to other roles.

This also seems to include those who worked on the recent Dragon Age game. The report claims that "team members are also seeing their roles terminated" while also being offered new jobs internally. Given this, it does sound like BioWare is indeed restructuring in a way that will affect those who are already working at the studio.

As for the new Mass Effect, we don't have much information to go off at this stage. At the time it was announced a few years ago, it was in the early stages of development, but McCay's post suggests the project is about to become the focus of BioWare.

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Although we don't have a lot of information to go on at this point, we pretty much know that Resident Evil 9 is going to happen. Given the success of the franchise reboot – as well as the official remakes – how could Capcom not jump at the chance to do another entry?

While we don't quite know what the studio has in store, there has been at least one piece of information leaked by an insider. As spotted by Rely on Horror, known leaker Dusk Golem (aka AestheticGamer) says Leon Kennedy will return for Resident Evil 9, adding that he will "100%" be the main character.

This information has been shared on the above Reddit thread (via a screenshot on Imgur), with some additional details thrown into the mix. For example: there's a possibility that the next remake will be of RE: Zero.

Crushing hopes

Perhaps one other thing that fans may want to note is that Dusk Golem seems pretty certain that Jill Valentine won't make it into the next game. This comes from recent rumors (referred to as "Jill Hopium") that she would make a triumphant return to Resident Evil, but this may not be the case now.

However, it's possible that Capcom was considering having Jill come back, but this seems to have changed in favor of Leon:

It was true then, it isn't now. Really not any more complicated, I wouldn't be surprised in the future when RE9 comes out and they show concept art that they might show early drafts of the game had Jill.

As always, take these speculations at face value. Dusk Golem has been pretty consistent with their insider information over the years, especially when it comes to horror gaming. However, we should still exercise caution.

Last year, series director Koshi Nakanishi confirmed that things are moving forward with Resident Evil, with new games in the pipeline. Given this, we might very well be getting to play as Leon once more, but don't get your hopes up until it's officially confirmed or denied.

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The release of Skyrim back in 2011 feels like an age ago, because, let's face it, it was. In terms of the overall gaming industry, 13 years (and a bit) is basically an epoch. Since the launch of The Elder Scrolls 5 all those moons ago, a lot has happened.

The US has had three presidents (four if you count the current returning one), the UK has had six leaders take up the mantel of Prime Minster, and Marvel has released about 30 films in its MCU money printing franchise. Also, Skyrim has been launched and relaunched many times, depending on if you count each individual console port.

What I'm saying is it's been a long time since Bethesda unveiled its critically acclaimed and epic RPG unto the world. So the question is: should you still play it now that we're almost a decade and half into its release?

At this point, so many people will have already experienced the game that it feels moot to even ask. However, for those who haven't played it, is Skyrim worth picking up in 2025? And if so, which version is the best to go for?

Skyrim's enduring legacy

The most recent figures I can find show that Skyrim has sold more than 60 million copies since it released. That's a long way off from the likes of GTA 5 and Minecraft, admittedly, but it still features on lists of the best-selling video games of all time.

This is in spite of it being a rather dated RPG these days. Sure, when it first came out, the visuals were jaw-dropping. To some extent, this is still the case, but it certainly pales in comparison to more modern releases, such as Cyberpunk 2077 or Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

But Bethesda has done more than its fair share to keep TES5 in the limelight by releasing newer versions of it over the years. Money for old rope? Absolutely, but it seems to have worked a charm. Despite the game's many, many flaws, Skyrim (even in 2025) is consistently pulling in players. The Reddit sub r/Skyrim currently has about 2.3 million users. Interpret that how you will.

However, despite typically being held aloft as one of the greatest role-playing games of all time, the game wouldn't be anything if all it had for it was the vanilla experience.

Skyrim is a modder's paradise

If you've come across any article on this site in the last two years or so that talks about the many Skyrim mods that are out there, chances are it's been written by me. That's not to say I'm some sort of TES5 modding sommelier. I don't install all the ones I talk about. However, I am fascinated by what's out there.

The fact that people are still creating their own custom content for the game is testament to its longevity. The base version of Skyrim is pretty vast as it is. Maybe not as huge in terms of map size when compared to the likes of No Man's Sky or the aforementioned Minecraft, but Bethesda is typically known for making pretty expansive open-world titles.

Having said that, it's still a finite experience with a story that eventually concludes. Not so with mods, which can range from the outright silly to adding in new companions to tackling some of the more egregious issues with the game head on. Some mods even go on to become independent releases in their own right. See: The Forgotten City.

So, which version of Skyrim should you play in 2025?

Now, I'm not going to go over the differences between the various upgrades and newer versions of Skyrim. In basic terms, you can either get the vanilla release that came out in 2011, the Legendary Edition, which launched in 2013, the remastered Special Edition, which we got in 2016, or the Anniversary Edition that dropped in 2021 to celebrate the game's tenth anniversary. There's also the VR port from 2017.

It can be tough to decide between all these. However, whichever you go for, you'll be getting the same game with the same story. But, suffice it to say, most would agree that it's probably not worth going for the vanilla retail release. You can, no doubt, pick up a copy from a second-hand place for very cheap, so if you just want to play Skyrim with no added benefits, go for your life.

Having said that, many recommend the Anniversary Edition for two reasons:

1. It's a visually upgraded version of the game, which makes it look a lot prettier. If that's what you're into. In that sense, it's much like the Special Edition.
2. It comes with everything the Special Edition has to offer, plus hundreds of Creation Mods (mods that Bethesda deem to be of high quality), and it adds the fishing feature to the game.

It being the most recent version of Skyrim, it is a bit pricier than the ones that preceded it. However, I have noticed – especially on Steam – it often goes on sale. The last discount I saw on PC had the price slashed by 90%. If you want the Anniversary Edition, but don't want to pay full price, wait until it gets discounted. That's the long and the short of it, really.

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While much of the gaming world is still waiting to know what's happening with the ever-elusive next installment in The Elder Scrolls, Bethesda may be revisiting some of the older games in the series. There have been rumors flying around that 2005's Oblivion could be getting a remake/remaster, and we might be getting it this year.

As reported by PCGamesN, Tom Warren over on The Verge says 2025 looks like it could be a great year for Xbox. After the recent Developer Direct announcements – chief among them being Doom: The Dark Ages' release date – it's been suggested that an official remaster of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion could arrive "late spring or early summer" of this year.

It should be noted that Warren specifically refers to it as a remaster rather than a remake. Of course, expectations should be tempered, as the alleged project has yet to be confirmed by either Bethesda or Microsoft or any other first-party studio linked to the game.

See Kvatch get destroyed in glorious Ray-Tracing

Speculations about an Oblivion remaster have been going on for some time. The first instance of this was during the Microsoft vs. FTC court case, which saw leaked documents that outlined a number of potential video game line-ups. The document also pointed to a possible Fallout 3 remaster.

Oblivion stands tall as one of the most successful entries in Bethesda's ongoing RPG franchise. It's hard to imagine that, come March 2026, the game will be celebrating 20 years. I still don't think I've discovered everything that Cyrodiil has to offer, despite playing it since day one.

Of course, the biggest Elder Scrolls fans probably don't care, as this still doesn't bring us any closer to the long-awaited The Elder Scrolls 6. Sorry to harp on about it, but the last time we heard about it, we were under the impression that the Skyrim follow-up was in early development. That was in August 2023.

Anyway, it's best to keep an eye on what the developer/publisher has to say about the rumored Oblivion remaster. It could be good for it to have a new lease of life all these years later. Then again, it could be just a quick cash grab for Bethesda while TES6 remains seemingly forever in development.

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The Xbox Developer Direct event is a chance for Microsoft to showcase some of its first-party games. Last year, we got to see the likes of Avowed, Hellblade 2, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

Given that Microsoft owns some of the biggest franchises in gaming, there's usually a little bit of hype around it. This year is unlikely to be an exception, with the 2025 showcase kicking off in just a few hours (at the time of writing). It's scheduled to go ahead at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK.

If you want to check out Xbox Developer Direct, there are plenty of ways you can do this. For example, if you're on YouTube, you can go to either the official Xbox or Bethesda channels. If Twitch is more your style, again, you can either favor Xbox or Bethesda. There's also the ASL version of the Xbox Twitch channel as well.

Don't fancy either of those websites, well, the event is also being streamed over on Facebook, as well as on Steam. It's even coming to the Bilibili platform, if you're watching from China. Basically, you won't be stuck for places to check it out.

What can we expect from Xbox Developer Direct 2025?

As mentioned above, Developer_Direct (as it's typically stylized) promises to show off games that are coming up. According to a recent post on Xbox Wire, we'll be getting insights into Compulsion's third-person action game South of Midnight and Sandfall Interactive's RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

However, I'd wager the one that many will be looking forward to the most is Doom: The Dark Ages, the third entry in the reboot of id Software's legendary franchise. A release date for the new Doom game has already been leaked ahead of the showcase, with it possibly coming in May. But we'll know in due time how accurate this information was.

Additionally, Xbox is planning to reveal details about a mysterious fourth game. One can only speculate on what this will be. I'd wager you have your own theories. Again, all in good time.

Xbox Developer Direct will be airing in English. However, the event will support live captions for other languages, including:

Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Czech, French, Canadian French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Persian (Farsi), Polish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Castilian Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese

Do note that some of the languages listed above may not be available at the time of the broadcast going live. However, Xbox says it will add them to YouTube "at the earliest opportunity."

The post Xbox Developer Direct 2025: where to watch and what to expect appeared first on Destructoid.

Doom: The Dark Ages represents the third installment since the reboot of the iconic series back in 2016. I know, I know. Game #3 can be a tricky one to pull off. However, both Doom and Doom Eternal were pretty stonkin' shooters, breathing new life into id Software's classics while maintaining the original spirit.

Now, we know the new game is coming in 2025, at least according to the release info on Steam, but we have yet to have a full date. However, according to a recent leak, we could be seeing Doom: The Dark Ages melting our collective faces off come May 15.

The information has been shared by user Alexzan over on Resetera (also reported by Eurogamer), which comes from the French website Gamekult. The words used in the original article say the game "will decimate the infernal legions on May 15, 2025" (as translated Google).

Déchirez et déchirez!

It should be pointed out that the leaked release date, as noted by Gamekult, has since been taken down, but the screenshot Alexzan took remains. As such, we should temper expectations on what we've been presented with. However, it is interesting to note that the Doom reboot did launch in May of 2016, while Eternal was released in March of its respective year.

Also, this leaked information comes just one day before the Xbox Developer Direct showcase. The Microsoft-led event is set to take place tomorrow, January 23, at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm GMT. We also do know that of the games being featured, Doom: The Dark Ages will be one of them.

Does this mean Bethesda/id Software will officially tell us when we can expect it? It's a possibility. It also seems possible that Gamekult could be correct about the leaked information, whether it was intended or not. Sure enough, we'll know within the next 24 hours or so.

The post Doom: The Dark Ages appears to have had its release date leaked appeared first on Destructoid.

The UK-based Booker Prize has been going for decades. It was started in 1969 by the wholesale distributor Booker Group Limited. If you're not familiar, it's an annual literature event that declares one judge-picked novel as the "best work of sustained fiction of the year, written in English and published in the UK or Ireland," as the Wikipedia page puts it.

Currently, winners are awarded a cash prize of £50,000 (just over $60,000), plus a trophy and no doubt a pretty steep uptick in sales. Now, if you've heard of this prestigious honor, but have never checked it out, it can seem a bit daunting knowing which books to read to get an idea of what makes a prize-winning novel in the charity's eyes.

This is where I come in. I've been following the Booker Prize for a few years now, and I felt it high time to give a list of novels to start off with. Many of these are simply personal recommendations, but there are also those that are generally regarded as fantastic stories in their own right. There will be some crossover in that, as well as some which I haven't read myself, but whose reputation is widespread. This list will also contain a mixture of winners and those that were shortlisted but are still worthy of note in the literary community.

With that, here are 10 Booker Prize novels I feel represent a good range to start with if you're thinking of checking the award out. These are not necessarily in any specific order. Of course, given that there have been hundreds of winners and those shortlisted over the years, 10 is only a tiny slice of what's out there.

Orbital - Samantha Harvey (2024 winner)

While it's tempting to suggest starting with the very first winner, I'm going to go the opposite route and recommend the most recent one. In 2024, Samantha Harvey won the Booker Prize with her short yet emotionally deep novel, Orbital.

It tells the story of six astronauts on board the International Space Station. The entire plot takes place over the course of 16 Earth orbits, which is the equivalent of one day to us here on terra firma. However, don't be fooled into thinking it's an action-packed sci-fi novel about peril or a deadly alien that hunts the crew in a game of cat-and-mouse.

One thing you'll quickly learn about the Booker Prize is nominees are not known for being high-octane page-turners. They are often more introspective, emotional, or help encapsulate a milieu of the time. In this instance, Orbital is a beautifully written account of six people floating in space who are equal parts bonded, while also experiencing feelings of loneliness.

The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood (shortlisted in 1986)

Here is one that many of you will already be familiar with. The TV adaptation alone will ring bells with a few of you, but I'd wager plenty out there have read the book, either originally or because of its resurgence over the last few years.

Margaret Atwood's chilling novel – which didn't win the Booker Prize, but was at least shortlisted – imagines a dystopian society in which women are considered nothing more than breeders. Its feminist resistance symbolism is something that continues to resonate with many readers. Its recent popularity during President Trump's first term is probably not a coincidence, and I dare say the book will continue to sell over the next four years.

Atwood herself is something of a literary superstar. She has been nominated for the Booker Prize an impressive six times, up there with such giants as Iris Murdoch and Ian McEwan. She won in 2019 with the sequel The Testaments, sharing the win with Bernardine Evaristo's Girl, Woman, Other (more on that later).

Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel (2009 winner)

Here's one I haven't read myself yet, but, much like The Handmaid's Tale, has been given new life in the limelight thanks to a successful adaptation. This is one for history enthusiasts, no doubt, with smatterings of British politics thrown in, all set in Tudor England in the 1500s.

The story takes place during Henry VIII's reign, with particular focus on the infamous politician Thomas Cromwell, whose influence on the monarchy is of great historical significance. Wolf Hall is also part of a trilogy, with Bring up the Bodies being published in 2012 and The Mirror and the Light releasing in 2020.

Sadly, Hilary Mantel passed away in 2022 from complications brought on by a stroke. However, she leaves behind a healthy body of work, along with numerous accolades and prizes, including a Walter Scott Prize (2010), a UK Author of the Year Award (2012), and the Companion of Literature (2020), among others.

The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro (1989 winner)

I read this one very recently, which I think is what prompted me to start this list. It's been on my TBR for some time, and I, rather shamefully, only acquired a copy of it about a year ago, despite knowing how highly regarded this modern classic is.

It's often considered one of the greatest English novels in recent history. And I intend the word "English" in all its stiff upper lip glory. Ishiguro's 1989 winner asks the reader to step into the shoes of an aging butler, Stevens, who serves his Lordship at Darlington Hall. Stevens is permitted to take time away, to drive across the English countryside. During the course of this journey, he reflects on his time as a butler over the decades. His prim and proper manner and loyalty to Lord Darlington seem at odds with an ever-changing world in post-WW2 Britain.

The Remains of the Day is definitely one of those Booker Prize-winning novels that, on the surface, is lacking in what you might call a plot. But its genius comes from its main character, its impeccable writing, and an unraveling of the past that allows the reader to see into the life of Stevens' employer. Also, there's a Merchant Ivory film based on it that stars Sir Anthony Hopkins. Must check that out, as well.

Life of Pi - Yann Martel (2002 winner)

I can hear what you're thinking: "pretty much all of these books have been adapted to film or TV. Why not just watch them instead?" Well, in a lot of instances, there's a reason why books make it to the big screen. Their stories resonate with people, which is what prize-winning novels are supposed to do, I'd argue. Plus, if you're scrolling through this article, chances are you're looking for something new to read anyway.

Life of Pi barely needs any introduction. Winning the Booker Prize in 2002, Martel's literary masterpiece effectively centers around unreliable narration. When a cargo ship sinks, 16-year-old Pi barely escapes alive and now must share a lifeboat with a tiger named Richard Parker, a female orangutan, a hyena, and a zebra.

To me, Ang Lee's film doesn't do the novel a great amount of justice. It's fine, but it's a classic case of the book being better. But you are right, hypothetical critical reader. I shouldn't count on this list being made up entirely of stories that have been adapted.

The Sellout - Paul Beatty (2016 winner)

Given that the Booker Prize is based in the UK, and champions books published in Britain, it may be a little off-putting to readers who aren't from ol' Blighty. However, it should be noted that non-UK authors can be nominated, which includes the aforementioned Yann Martel and Margaret Atwood (both of whom are Canadian).

However, over the years, the prize has opened its doors to even more writers, and Paul Beatty's The Sellout is worthy of note for this reason. For starters, it's the first novel by a US author to win the award. For another, in my eyes at least, it's proof that you don't have to write something highbrow, dense, or otherwise dry.

That's not to say The Sellout isn't sophisticated, but it's one of the few Booker Prize novels (at least from what I've read) that's actually funny. Not "droll" funny. Funny-funny. Comical, even. Its biting satire on race relations in the US is what creates its humor, as the novel's protagonist seeks to reintroduce slavery. Don't worry. It's not as contentious as it sounds. It wouldn't have been a winner if it was even the slightest bit problematic.

A Horse Walks Into a Bar - David Grossman (2017 winner)

Speaking of humor, David Grossman's 2017 winning novel strongly suggests from the title alone that the reader is in for some yucks. However, despite the story taking place almost entirely in a comedy club – with the occasional flashback – the jokes from the onstage comedian are basically a side product. In all honesty, the book isn't really about being funny.

Set in an Israeli town, A Horse Walks Into a Bar has us witness stand-up comic Dovaleh unveil a dark side of his past over the course of his set. Although he begins with some Middle Eastern jokes, it quickly makes way for the meat of his being there.

Many of us will have been in the room when a comedian is bombing on stage, or at least it's not going quite to plan, so it's interesting to see this in book form. Grossman almost forces us to bear witness to the emotional turmoil of Dovaleh, which is equal parts encapsulating, evocative of empathy, and a little bit hard to watch (or read, rather) as well. It should also be noted that this actually won the International Booker Prize, but I'm still counting it.

Girl, Woman, Other - Bernardine Evaristo (2019 winner)

I mentioned earlier how Evaristo's novel shared the 2019 Booker Prize with Atwood's The Testament. It must have been a difficult choice to make for them to settle on two novels (I must admit, I thought Salman Rushdie's Quichotte was a shoo-in, but I digress). Sadly, this is another one I have yet to read. But it's on my shelf at least, I swear.

Girl, Woman, Other is an important novel in terms of its portrayal of race and class in Britain. The story follows 12 characters over the course of many decades, who are embroiled in a search for meaning, a search for somewhere to call home, trying to fit in, and their personal relationships.

It being a winner in 2019 is not a coincidence. At a time when Britain (and, indeed, the rest of the world) is talking about identities, Evaristo's critically acclaimed novel touches on some key subjects, particularly when it comes to ethnicity. This, too, has been adapted into a TV series. I know, I know. I said I was going to try to avoid that sort of thing going forward, but there's no denying that Girl, Woman, Other is a Booker Prize winner that has a lot of significance in our modern age.

The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch (1978 winner)

We've looked at quite a few novels that I would consider to be pretty recent. From 2024's Orbital to 2002's Life of Pi, many of the ones I've talked about so far only really cover a small timeline of the prize's history. So I thought I'd introduce something a little more vintage.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not just pulling something out of a hat to tick a "more than two decades old" box. Iris Murdoch's The Sea, The Sea (so good they named it twice?) is typically held aloft as a literary tour de force. And much like many of the other novels listed here, it's described as a wholly relatable story. It should also not be confused with John Banville's The Sea, which won the Booker in 2005.

Murdoch's 1978 book centers around Charles Arrowby, who's retired from the theatrical world. His attempts to chronicle his life in a memoir are thwarted when he encounters his childhood sweetheart. It's a tale about obsessions and relationships, all against the backdrop of an idyllic seaside locale.

Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie (1981 winner + 1993 Booker of Bookers + 2008 Best of the Booker)

Before his infamous run-in with the then-Ayatollah, who issued a fatwa (literally a "death warrant") on the author after the publication of Satanic Verses in 1988, Salman Rushdie was already one to watch out for on the literary scene.

From the title above, you can already see that Midnight's Children wasn't just a Booker Prize-winning novel. It's essentially considered the best-ever book to win the prestigious award. Considering some of the alumni that have been shortlisted and/or have won over the decades, that's a claim that only Rushdie has in terms of the Booker Prize. And for good reason.

Its epic tale of India's independence in 1947 is intertwined with the birth of the Prime Minister's child, Saleem Sinai. Its magical realism is what Rushdie would become well known for, even during his time in exile, and its lofty themes and phenomenal writing are what make the novel such a standout amongst all the ones that have come about since 1969. It's a bit more dense than some of the others listed here, but there's a reason it's considered the best the Booker Prize has to offer.

The post 10 novels to get you into the Booker Prize appeared first on Destructoid.

The tale of Half-Life and its impact on the first-person shooter genre is something that will undoubtedly live on forever. It's often considered one of the greatest video games of all time, up there with the likes of GoldenEye 007 on Nintendo 64, the original Doom, and Halo 3.

And thanks to the modding community, I get to keep talking about the game. In this instance, there's an upcoming mod that should appeal to fans of Cyberpunk 2077 or Deus Ex. Created by user Guild of Inventors over on ModDB, The Last Goodbye fully converts Half-Life into a neo-noir game with a Dick Tracy lean.

I'll let the creator enlighten you as to what it's about:

In the shadowy fairy tale metropolis of Prava, the gun-for-hire Lucille - better known on the streets as The Banshee - takes a job from enigmatic entrepreneur Ark McLean. Her target: Bullseye, the deadliest gangster in town. On her travels through the criminal underworld, she meets all manner of friends and foes, with plenty of action and intrigue along the way.

Tee-hee! I said "Dick"

In case you don't know, Dick Tracy is a fictional detective from an old comic strip and movie, featuring strong noir vibes.

While The Last Goodbye is not out yet – and there's no current release date – the above video gives a nice roundup of how development is going. We get to see the current build of it in action, which includes some story elements and voice acting.

As of December 2024, Guild of Inventors says the mod is in a "solid late beta stage of development." It's technically playable, but "certainly not complete." I'm heartily impressed with how it looks so far. You can sort of tell that it will play and possibly feel a bit like Half-Life – it being made in the Gold Source engine – but with this unique take on Valve's classic FPS.

Look, it's pretty simple. If you like the look of this one, you'd do well to keep an eye on it. I, for one, am always taken in by the efforts of the modding community. Gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling in my tummy space. Anyway, if you want to keep up with progress on The last Goodbye, you can check out the developer's Twitter/X, Bluesky, or YouTube channel.

The post Half-Life goes noir in this mod that will see you take on the criminal underworld appeared first on Destructoid.

How many Skyrim mods are there? About a bajillion.

Okay, good night everyone. Thanks for coming. Drive safe.

No, but seriously. There are a lot. Barely a few days go by without me talking about some of the mods that are out there for The Elder Scrolls 5. Given that the game has been out since November 2011 – and given how tenacious the modding community is – it's hardly surprising there's so much content available, and has been since day one.

They range in scope as well, from funny ones to unofficial expansions to ones that attempt to undo the many, many bugs the game is plagued with. There are a host of highly recommended Skyrim mods to choose from. Personally, my favorite is the one that renames all the Frost Trolls to Tim Allen. Nope. I have no idea, either.

So, I think it's time I make an attempt to tally up how many mods there are for Skyrim. As far as I can tell, we've never done this at Destructoid. There may be a reason for that, but we'll see.

A few things to consider before we move on:

1. This will be a roundabout figure. Mods are being made and uploaded at an alarming rate, and by the time I finish writing this article (let alone it being published), the number will almost certainly have gone up.
2. I'll be using a bunch of sources to try and get as accurate a number as I can. However, I accept there will be some mods that exist on more obscure or less obvious websites, which are more difficult to take into account.
3. There's also the question of certain mods having more than one version, such as one for the Special Edition or Anniversary Edition. Not to mention, creators may well have uploaded their content to more than one site.
4. Just assume it's a large number, and we'll all be a lot happier.

Now that we've sorted out that little bit of housekeeping, let's crack on with trying to ascertain how many Skyrim mods there are.

Nexus Mods

About a year ago, we did an article about Nexus Mods celebrating 10 billion downloads, which, according to a post on the site itself, would take an estimated 317 years to download. But why would you? Anyway...

Of these, a significant number of them were for Skyrim. At the time, Bethesda's epic RPG was listed as both the number one and number two games that had the most downloads, totaling 5.7 billion downloads. Looking on Nexus Mods today, that figure has unsurprisingly gone up over the course of 11 or 12 months.

At the time of writing, the website is host to 102,366 custom mods for Skyrim. Now, it's possible your mileage may vary. I've done my best to make sure the site shows as many mods as possible, so you might see a slightly different number, depending on what options you have checked.

Also, this number is specifically for the Special Edition of the game. If we move over to the vanilla release of Skyrim, we see this number is a lower 72,471. Again, at the time of writing. Why are there less for the original 2011 version? Best guess is most players have made the switch to the newer releases, so modders may be more inclined to upload for the Special Edition instead.

Also, this doesn't take into account that some mods will exist on both versions simultaneously. Add onto that the fact that some custom content has multiple uploads for different language translations. As such, it seems pretty difficult to count all the unique mods Nexus has. But we do our best.

ModDB, Bethesda.net, and Steam

After Nexus, ModDB is probably the second-most used modding website on the internet. At least from my perspective, that is. It's where I go for all my fan-made Doom content.

Much like above, there is a section for the standard version of Skyrim and one for the Special Edition release. However, one thing that becomes immediately apparent is the numbers are significantly smaller.

Vanilla Skyrim lists just 196 mods and 38 add-ons (I'm not even 100% sure what the difference is between the two), while the Special Edition has even less, with 39 mods and just four add-ons. Again, you'll note that there are some crossovers.

Why there are less isn't clear to me. It could simply be that Nexus Mods has carved out something of a large corner of the TES5 modding market, so that's just where most people go.

Then we turn to "official" mods that Bethesda deems worthy to host on its own website. The developer and publisher actually refers to these as "Creations" for some reason, but they are basically just normal mods. One thing that does set them apart from those on, say, Nexus is they have been made compatible with console versions of Skyrim, so non-PC players get to enjoy them.

Essentially, it seems Bethesda wanted to have a say in some of the custom content that gets bandied around for its game. In this regard, many of the Creations could be considered of a certain standard, typically pretty high quality or making important changes to Skyrim. One example is the Unofficial Skyrim Patch, which fixes a shitload of bugs and glitches.

As of right now, Bethesda.net lists 49,149 fan-made mods on its website. Of these, 8,424 are for PC, 9,283 are for PlayStation, while Xbox takes the lion's share, with a meaty 33,212 files.

As for Steam Workshop, the number is still pretty impressive. As of right now, it's showing 27,559 mods in its database. And for some reason, the first one that's showing for me is one that makes it so Nords emit chicken noises. I didn't say every mod would be a game-changer.

What's the total?

Even when you take into account that some mods will have multiple translated versions, files for the vanilla and Special Edition releases of the game, and may be available on more than one website, it's still a pretty huge number of mods that Skyrim has.

If you take the numbers above at face value – and remember: this is as accurate as can be at the time of writing – we get a grand total of 251,822 overall mods and add-ons. That's more than a quarter of a million ways you can enhance your Elder Scrolls 5 experience.

For comparison, CurseForge is showing 197,691 mods for Minecraft, which came out around the same time as Skyrim. And people may wonder why Bethesda's game continues to hang around after more than 13 years.

The post Just how many mods for Skyrim are there? appeared first on Destructoid.

There's an argument to be had that all video games are survival games in many respects. Despite the gun-blasting, demon-killing chaos of the likes of Doom 2, you're still trying to survive in a pixelated world run amok with hellish antagonists. But what if you were to turn the game into something that's more in-line with the survival genre?

That's what ModDB user budwieser (yes, it's really spelled that way) is doing, at least. Taking heavy inspiration from the STALKER series, "Heart of U.A.C." is an upcoming mod for Doom 2 that takes you away from hell and pits you against the Zone.

The Zone, in this case, has invaded the Union Aerospace Corporation – the Mars-based conglomerate where much of Doom takes place. The mod is described thus:

Countless marines have been invaded and you have to survive here. Get out of safe zone, kill and loot mutant monsters and enemies. Survive by drinking food and water and beware of radiation

Is it even Doom 2 anymore?

Take a look at those screenshots. Honestly, if you had to guess what this game was, you wouldn't assume it was Doom 2. It definitely looks more like a "demade" take on GSC Game World's cult STALKER franchise. It really shows what people can do with modding when they have the time, skills, and tools to hand.

"Heart of U.A.C." doesn't have a release date yet. However, the mod page does say it's expected to be released sometime in Q3 of this year, so keep an eye out for that. It will be interesting to see how the fast-paced antics of classic Doom will translate to the much harsher realm of survival horror. I imagine it will fare pretty well.

Speaking of, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl has been doing pretty well for itself. Spending many years in development – with the studio itself getting caught in the midst of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine – the long-awaited follow-up to 2009's Call of Pripyat was met with high praise despite the issues it had upon release. So it's nice to see the series getting a nod from Doom 2, as well.

The post An upcoming Doom 2 mod will turn the game into a STALKER-style FPS appeared first on Destructoid.

Come August, it will be nine years since we had a Deus Ex game, Mankind Divided, released in 2016. Some of you unfamiliar with the series may be shrugging your shoulders right now. "So what?" you may say, "we're still waiting on Half-Life 3." However, much like the elusive Half-Life installment, fans of the exploits of Adam Jensen also never got closure.

You see, Mankind Divided ended on a rather disappointing note, with the closing moments of the game strongly suggesting more was to come. However, it never emerged. As such, it's become a major sore point in Deus Ex's history, and the game's writer appears to agree.

In a recent interview on the YouTube channel "From Script to Life" (thanks, Kotaku), Mark Cecere – whose writing credits include the two Deus Ex reboots, Watch Dogs: Legions and Shadow of the Tomb Raider – also feels Mankind Divided's ending was severely lacking.

It was rather "unsatisfying"

In the video – the bit in question begins around the 6:30 mark – Cecere agrees, for the most part, that the most recent Deus Ex game doesn't feel finished. He goes on to say that the final fight between Jensen and the heavily augmented behemoth Viktor Marchenko was only supposed to be a kind of "halfway boss" battle.

Cecere adds that Marchenko was not considered the "brains" of the whole operation, which explains why the game feels "unsatisfying," as he calls it.

Despite Mankind Divided being almost a decade old, I won't spoil it by revealing how the story concludes. Suffice it to say, it actually doesn't. That the game's writer agrees there should have been more to come shows it wasn't over. Those of us who have played it know that only too well.

Will we ever get a new game in the series, particularly one that finishes what Adam Jensen started? Sadly, about a year ago, Embracer Group allegedly shuttered a new Deus Ex project, leaving hopes of a continuation of the Mankind Divided story wavering.

Maybe it wasn't the best Deus Ex game out there, but it definitely had its moments. Personally, I'm a fan of it. Even if it doesn't quite hit the high marks of the OG release, it still deserves to have its story finished.

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Despite releasing to PS5 in 2020, The Last of Us Part 2 is only just about coming to PC. On the one hand, it will be the remastered version when it is released (it's up to you to decide whether a four-and-half-year-old game even needs remastering). However, if you're planning to get your gritty zombie action on via Steam or Epic Games Store, you won't be able to escape Sony's clutch.

As noted by VGC, if you want to play The Last of Us Part 2 on PC, you'll need to connect a PlayStation Network account in order to do so. Indeed, if you look on the game's Steam page, you can see it says so on the right-hand column.

This is despite two things:

1. TLoU is a single-player game, so it doesn't make sense to require a PSN account.
2. A similar tactic was tried last year with Helldiver 2. Guess how that went down...

It seems Sony has learned nothing

As the report from VGC also points out, having to have a separate account in order to play through Steam or Epic renders the game useless in countries that don't have PSN. Obviously, this means a lot of people around the world won't be able to play The Last of Us Part 2 (remastered or not) when it comes to PC this April.

While Sony has reneged on this decision in the past – doing a complete U-turn when it tried to introduce it to the aforementioned Helldiver 2 – the company also admitted it was "still learning what is best for PC players." However, this doesn't appear to be the case if Sony goes forward with PSN requirements for a PC port of a single-player game.

There was also the incident in September 2024 when a mod for God of War Ragnarök removed the PlayStation Network requirement altogether. This alone should show how unpopular it is. Will Sony relent for The Last of Us Part 2? It seems well within its best interests to do so. Sadly, I have no influence over that decision.

The post The Last of Us Part 2 requires a PSN account if you want to play it on PC appeared first on Destructoid.

The entire Star Wars oeuvre is replete with lore and characters, such that the films alone cannot explore all of it. As such, we have plenty of spin-offs, novelizations, and video games to fill in the gaps, or at least create new stories from the same universe.

Despite the swashbuckling and lightsaber glory of Star Wars as a successful franchise, one thing it's not really known for is its depiction of blood and guts. Even Luke Skywalker's famous hand-removal scene is pretty tame. However, someone has decided to rectify this lack of viscera.

Over on ModDBm, user Cody Cruikshank has brought us something that essentially recreates Dark Forces within the Doom 2 engine. One thing they have added for certain is a healthy dose of gore. The mod itself – currently available in early access – is even called "Brutal Dark Forces," which, judging by the images alone, promises a bloodier and more violent take on the LucasArts title.

No sign of Doom's chainsaw, however

Cruikshank seemingly invites us to "be one with the force and save the galaxy with blood," saying that their mod boasts the aforementioned gore, as well as "remixed weapons, brutal enemies, bosses, weapons," and other things.

To that end, it does appear they've essentially created a Doom-esque version of Star Wars: Dark Forces, but with some much-needed bloodshed that's evidently missing from the original 1995 game. Of course, we already did get a remaster of Dark Forces not long ago, but I'm guessing that one downplays much of the excessive violence this mod is aiming for.

One thing that's not clear, however, is which port of Doom 2 the mod supports. Given that it has the word "brutal" in the title – not to mention the aquifer of ichor seen in the screenshots – it stands to reason that it may require Brutal Doom in order to run. Either that or GZDoom.

Maybe Dark Forces didn't go down as the best Star Wars game of all time, but I still have pretty fond memories of playing it many moons ago. I'm not sure how I feel about an excessively bloody take on it, but if it keeps me installing and playing classic Doom, I'm all for it.

The post Experience the gory side of Star Wars with this ‘brutal’ Doom/Dark Forces mashup appeared first on Destructoid.

While Steam Deck has been a lot of people's go-to when it comes to handheld PC gaming, the likes of Lenovo have been making their own mark on the industry. The Legion Go has offered a decent alternative to Valve's portable system, but we're about to experience a first.

Lenovo is all set to launch the Legion Go S. Announced at CES 2025, the upcoming device will be more ergonomic and feature a smaller screen when compared to the current model. According to a post on Micro Center, a Windows 11 version will be launching sometime in January, and will have an RRP of $729.

However, if you're willing to wait a bit longer, there's an alternative model, which will come with SteamOS, the very same software that powers the Steam Deck UX. This version is expected to be released sometime in May.

Will others follow suit?

This is a pretty significant development. As the post above itself says, this makes the Lenovo Legion Go S "the first PC gaming handheld built on the SteamOS from someone other than Valve itself." Whether this will open the door for other third-party handheld manufacturers to do the same remains to be seen at this stage.

Whether you go for the Windows or Steam version, both of these new models offer a departure from the current Legion Go, according to Micro Center. As well as the aforementioned ergonomic design, the Go S also now has integrated controllers, rather than the Nintendo Switch-style ones you could remove from the device.

As for hardware specs, you can expect to find an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go or Z1 Extreme processor with a Radeon 700M GPU under the hood, as well as 32GB of RAM. Given that the Steam Deck OLED has 16GB of RAM, we're already seeing just how Valve's system is starting to look less impressive as we move forward. I guess Newell and his team need to come out of the woodwork with something quick, especially if third-party devices are going to start using SteamOS.

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Long before the likes of Oblivion, I recall the OG PlayStation console. Its 3D capabilities and catalog of releases turned Sony into a powerhouse in the video games industry. Nostalgic though that time was, we have truly moved on since those low-poly, low-pixel days. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't return to them every so often.

That's exactly what Nexus Mods user gong has done. Making sure we never forget the PS1 era of gaming, they've managed to "demake" The Elder Scrolls 4, turning it into a blocky facsimile of its formerly smooth (though now dated) self.

"Oblivion Umastered," as it's called, has taken the classic Bethesda RPG and "decimally crunched" the textures, turning it into something that would sit more at home in 1995. The modder has also – if you'll pardon the language – "rampantly polyfucked" the meshes, and has also "bit crushed" the audio. I speak for myself, but I kind of like the way gong describes things...

Obliviating the visuals

Visually and audibly, it may have been altered to an eye-bleeding quality that many of us still recall fondly, but it's the same ol' Oblivion. The modder describes it as being like a PS1-era game, but it's functionally still TES4, so nothing else has been tinkered with outside the graphics and sound.

They also recommend running their unmastered mod with the included shader preset, saying that it's "actually a pretty cool experience." All I can say is it really makes me miss my youth.

Of course, we can't talk about The Elder Scrolls without mentioning the elusive sixth entry. Skyrim came out over 13 years ago and while Bethesda is working on the next game, many of us are starting to grow impatient. On top of that, there are still rumors that Oblivion will be getting a remake at some point. Counter that with this PS1 demake mod and we could potentially have it all from the nearly 18-year-old RPG.

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At CES 2025, Nvidia announced the next line of its powerful graphics cards. Now, if you know your Nvidia, you've likely already been waiting for this, with leaks and rumors attempting to spill the beans early. Well, it's now been officially confirmed.

The GeForce RTX 5000 series is coming soon. How soon, you ask? Well, if you've read the title of this piece, you already have some inkling. According to a recent post on the Nvidia website, you can expect to see the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 "on store shelves" come January 30. Then in February (though no exact date has been given yet), the 5070 and 5070 Ti will launch.

As for price, well the 5090 will be – as you would expect – quite the drain on the ol' wallet. The RRP for this beast will start (START) at $1,999, while the 5080 will be $999. Naturally, prices go down as we hit the slightly less powerful models. The RTX 5070 Ti will start at $749, while the 5070 will be the cheapest of this lot at $549.

A lot of numbers to throw at us

Of course, this is a new generation, so we're going to expect an ante-upping of the hardware specifications. Indeed, Nvidia says the RTX 5090 will boast a pretty mighty 32GB of GDDR7 memory and 21,760 CUDA Cores. For comparison, the RTX 4090 – currently the world's most powerful GPU – has 24GB of RAM and 16,384 CUDA Cores.

Specs run like this for the other models, with some power uptick when compared to their 4000 series counterparts. Nvidia basically says that all new graphics cards will be twice as fast as the current generation. The video above shows the jump in framerate for Cyberpunk 2077 between the 4090 and 5090.

Of course, Nvidia is going to want to hype up these beefier graphics cards. The specifications do look impressive, but proper benchmark testing will say for certain whether it's worth a full upgrade. There's also the question of whether an RTX 5090 Ti will ever emerge given that it doesn't look as though the 4090 Ti is being released, especially with new-gen breathing down our necks.

More upscaling for your buck

This wasn't the only thing Nvidia announced at CES 2025, either. Along with the RTX 5000 series, the company is also launching the next generation of its Deep Learning Super Sampling upscaling technology.

DLSS 4 will introduce new AI in the form of Multi Frame Generation. Now, DLSS 3 already has single Frame Generation, but this next iteration "combines multiple Blackwell hardware and DLSS software innovations to make generating multiple frames a reality." Make of that what you will.

MFG will support 75 games out of the door, including Cyberpunk 2077, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and Doom: The Dark Ages.

In a nutshell: Nvidia is releasing brand-new hardware over the coming weeks and, once again, I have to make peace with the fact that I still can't afford any of this new PC technology that's emerging. Sigh.

You can check out Jensen Huang's full CES 2025 keynote speech below if you're interested.

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Despite its status as an absolute banger in the early PC gaming era, the original Doom left a somewhat negative mark on the industry. Along with Mortal Kombat, id software's iconic FPS caused parents and US congressmen to gasp at all that 1990s digital violence. "Why can't video games offer more intellectual stimulation?" one might say.

Well, wonder no more. As noted by PC Gamer, there's a mod you can get for the OG Doom that will be a feast for art lovers. The Gallery Experience is pretty much what it sounds like, in that it re-imagines the game's E1M1 map as an art gallery.

Featuring notable works from some of history's most famous artists, the experience lets you walk around admiring great and classic works of fine art, complete with links that will take you to more information on the Met Museum website. Did you know, for example, that Filippino Lippi's Madonna and Child "evokes the area around the Strozzi villa near Florence?" Fascinating.

A little Shiraz to go with that Baroque?

You can play Doom: The Gallery Experience in your browser over on Itch.io, or you can download it. I chose the former, and I was particularly amused by the fact that Doomguy walks around with a glass of red wine in hand. Now you can appreciate all the pixelated delights of a Botticelli painting while sipping a Bordeaux. How elegant!

While there are no monsters in the mod, there are items you can pick up as you explore; notably a few hors d'oeuvre and even a bit of cash. All while classical music fills your mind to the brim with sophisticated enrichment.

If you thought Doom could never be paired with words like "intellectual," "cerebral," or "Renaissance," you would be wrong. When you grow tired of mowing down Imps with a chainsaw or firing rockets into the face of a Hell Knight, why not refine your Doom playtime with a trip to an art gallery? It's almost as good as the real thing*

*Citation needed.

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Perhaps what makes Stardew Valley such a hit that keeps people coming back for more is the fact that it's quite a cozy game. Its pixelated visuals hearken back to the olden days of gaming, which goes in stark contrast to the usual AAA appeal of hyperrealistic visuals and gun-toting violence.

So successful is Stardew Valley that, as of December 2024, the game has sold over 41 million copies worldwide since it launched back in 2016. That's across all platforms, according to the official website, with the Nintendo Switch port alone accounting for 7.9 million copies.

When you consider that – as noted by Eurogamer – February 2024 saw the game reach a milestone of over 30 million copies; this means over 10 million more units have shifted in less than 12 months. Some of this may have come from the big 1.6 update that went live in 2024.

From small beginnings

Much like Minecraft, Stardew Valley came from humble beginnings, making an enormous splash in the indie gaming scene that caused a tsunami in the mainstream. Are these watery puns doing anything for you? No? Right. Noted.

According to Wikipedia, Stardew is one of the biggest-selling video games of all time. With over 41,000,000 copies – and no doubt this number will keep going up – that puts the small farming simulator ahead of Mario Kart Wii, Super Mario Bros. Ultimate on the Nintendo Switch, and Cyberpunk 2077. It's got a long way to go before it topples the likes of the aforementioned Minecraft or even GTA 5, but I suspect Barone does not have aspirations for such dominance.

In any case, Stardew Valley is living proof that the indie scene is capable of doing just as well what big developers with a budget of millions can do. I must admit, it's been far too long since I booted the game up. But since the console update started rolling out not long ago, now might be a good time to dive back in.

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GTA 6 is going to be the biggest release of this generation, if not of all time. I know it. You know it. Luddites who have shunned modern society know it. While we still don't know exactly when it'll be released, we can safely say it'll be quite the money spinner for developer Rockstar Games. But how much is it likely to make?

Well, according to a report from PCGamesN – which points to a paywalled article from the Financial Times – it’s estimated that GTA 6 could earn about $3.2 billion within its first year of launching. This comes from DFC Intelligence, a company that specializes in market analysis.

Over three billion in sales within 12 months is an astonishing amount. But consider that this doesn't include the $1 billion revenue the upcoming Grand Theft Auto release could earn from pre-orders alone. For some perspective, as of August 2024, GTA 5 has racked up around $8.6 billion in its lifetime, according to figures. Bear in mind that came out in 2013.

That's enough cheddar to make a cheddar galaxy

Grand Theft Auto has been one of the most successful video game franchises in history. The fifth installment alone has gone down as the second best-selling game of all time, at around 205,000,000 copies sold worldwide (Minecraft is still reigning champion at 300,000,000 copies).

The hype for GTA 6 is all too real, with theories and speculations a-plenty. We're anticipating Rockstar will release it sometime this year, possibly in the fall or maybe later. But we've got no solid information to go off, so all we can do is wait.

Suffice it to say, the sixth entry is going to be somewhat lucrative for its developer (as well as parent company Take-Two Interactive). They may as well tell us that GTA 6 will earn a bajillion dollars. I'd easily believe it. I also pity the studios that are looking to release their games around the same time.

The post GTA 6 could make over $3 billion in its first year, analysts say appeared first on Destructoid.

Remember all those years ago when we first got a glimpse of Skyrim? My word, but it was gorgeous. Jaw-dropping vistas of the colder parts of Tamriel were something to behold. Fast-forward some 13 years later and vanilla TES5 has certainly aged to some extent. But there's still life in the ol' girl, yet.

As noted by DSO Gaming, someone has created a version of Skyrim with a graphical kiss of life, so to speak. Specifically, someone has ported the game over to Unreal Engine 5, and you can now play the demo of this fan project.

The video above gives a taste of how much it's improved the overall look of Bethesda's aging RPG. The person responsible for the port – one Greg Coulthard – says they wrote their own C++ plugin, which allows it to read the ESM files of Skyrim, which also automates "landscape generation and object placement" within UE5. You can download the demo from Discord here. Just look for the link pinned to the top of the "bethesda_unreal" channel.

Just a lovely stroll through the world

A couple of things to note: first, Coulthard says their version uses the vanilla assets of Skyrim, so it will still look very close to the 2011 release, just with much better visuals. Second, DSO notes that the demo only contains the world, so there's no gameplay or RPG mechanics to speak of.

Basically, if you just want to have a leisurely walk through Skyrim's land, wondering what could have been had Bethesda built the game in Unreal Engine, this is your chance. As for when we will have a full release of the project, it's hard to say at this stage. For all we know, it may never emerge.

Essentially, go into this with an understanding that it's more of a proof of concept than an example of things to come. But, hey, it's at least another way for Skyrim to retain some degree of relevance while we wait ever longer for updates on The Elder Scrolls 6.

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What was the surprise hit of 2023 – dropping unexpectedly at the start of the year – Hi-Fi Rush has shown that Tango Gameworks was much more than just a creator of interesting horror games. Of course, some would have been curious about whether a follow-up would ever emerge, and it seems the studio is not done with the IP.

In a recent interview with IGN, some of the developers from Tango have said they are keen to revisit Hi-Fi Rush, possibly making a sequel of it. Studio head Colin Mack said the team is "considering a sequel positively." However, the studio is "not yet at the stage where we can say specifically, 'This is what we're going to do'."

Echoing these sentiments, creative director John Johanas has said the staff "have a lot of love" for the game, and they are "considering various opportunities." It seems clear that the people at Tango Gameworks are passionate about what they did with Hi-Fi Rush. Project manager Kazuaki Egashira said the team is interested in the game but also that the "characters and the world are beloved by us," adding: "I want to cherish this IP."

I like my Chai hot and fresh

Many of us are all too aware of what went down with the studio earlier this year. In May, Microsoft shuttered Tango Gameworks while – almost in the same breath – saying it wanted to keep publishing "smaller games that give us prestige and awards." You know, like Hi-Fi Rush did.

Fortunately, the developer was saved when it was acquired by Krafton, the South Korean publisher that brought us PUBG and The Callisto Protocol. As a result, Tango is managing to hold on, giving it – as the IGN report says – a new lease on life.

Founded by Shinji Mikami of Resident Evil fame in 2010, Tango Gameworks quickly stood out as a studio to watch out for. Given Mikami's résumé, it's unsurprising that the developer came out the door with some horror offerings, first with Evil Within in 2014 and then Evil Within 2 in 2017. This was then followed by Ghostwire: Tokyo in 2022, which took a lot of inspiration from Japanese folklore.

It was, therefore, quite a surprise to see Tango come almost out of nowhere with Hi-Fi Rush, it being a colorful rhythm game with an aesthetic that could almost be described as a "Saturday morning cartoon." Fortunately, this surprise was indeed a pleasant one. Hopefully, the team can continue with the IP they're so passionate about, but only time will tell whether a follow-up will occur.

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Look, we know the Nintendo Switch follow-up is imminent. It's just a question of knowing when it's coming out, plus everything else there is to know about the elusive console. While an analysis suggests Nintendo could be a market leader in the next generation, the current Switch is still selling pretty well.

According to a post on Bluesky from ‪Mat Piscatella, executive director and analyst at market research firm Circana (NPD), the Nintendo Switch has now outsold Sony's PlayStation 2 in the US. To date, the former has now sold some 46.6 million units in its lifetime compared to the PS2, which sold just shy of 43 million in the States, as noted by data from VGSales.

Piscatella goes on to say that this makes the Switch the second best-selling video game hardware platform in the country, "trailing only Nintendo DS." This is even though spending in the US fell by 7% for gaming software, hardware, and accessories.

Some other interesting statistics

Check out what else Piscatella has to say about the video game industry. For example, while the Nintendo Switch has now outsold the PlayStation 2, it came second behind the PS5 for sales during November of this year.

A post further down also lists the best Nintendo games for the previous month. Right at the top, we see Super Mario Party Jamboree just ahead of Mario & Luigi: Brothership. We can also see – according to the chart – that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom climbed back up from 13 to sit comfortably at the number five spot, wedged between Echoes of Wisdom and Sonic X Shadow Generations.

This shows just how much life Nintendo is getting out of its hybrid console. It's been on the market since 2017 and will hit its eighth birthday in March 2025, which is roughly when rumors and speculations predict the Switch 2 will finally emerge. Maybe.

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