Xbox

EA's top execs earned $60m in the fiscal year 2024, despite the company laying off hundreds of employees.

In particular CEO Andrew Wilson earned just under half that number himself - $25.6m - and was praised for executing on "key strategic and operating objectives".

Those objectives include reorganising the business into EA Entertainment and EA Sports; "optimising our portfolio, investments and resources in support of our strategic priorities and growth initiatives" as part of a restructuring plan; progressing the company's "long-term strategy plan focused on driving durable growth, strong cash flow and stockholder returns"; and overseeing a "year of continued employee satisfaction scores above industry benchmarks", which included "record high talent retention".

Absolutely fucked.

Pieces Interactive, the developer behind the recent Alone in the Dark reboot, has been shut down by Embracer.

The developer's website now reads "thanks for playing with us" and the dates 2007-2024. "Our last release was the reimagining of Alone in the Dark," it concludes (thanks IGN).

Embracer acquired Pieces in 2017 after working on a number of Titan Quest projects. The Swedish conglomerate has closed a number of developers over the past year, resulting in layoffs.

Dick's.

Will you be picking one up later this year?

During the Xbox Games Showcase this year, Microsoft unveiled three brand-new Xbox Series X|S console revisions coming in late 2024 - and we want to know if the Pure Xbox audience is planning on picking up any of these shiny new systems later in the year.

Across the new lineup, we've got a 1TB White Xbox Series S, an all-digital 1TB White Xbox Series X, and a new 2TB Galaxy Black Xbox Series X. The three new systems run the gamut when it comes to pricing - right from $350 on the low end up to a whopping $600 for that Xbox Series X with upgraded storage.

Tonight brought our first proper look at Assassin's Creed Shadows gameplay, and the vast difference in approach to playing as its two main characters.

An extended gameplay slice shown during Ubisoft Forward began with samurai Yasuke taking the direct approach to enemies - namely, caving their heads in with a very large mace, spilling brains and baskets of oranges from the local market across the floor.

It wasn't all violence, though - you can also pet dogs.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the latest installment in the open-world RPG series developed by Bioware.

Watch 20 minutes of gameplay from Dragon Age: The Veilguard in this latest video for the upcoming RPG. The video gives us a look at various characters and classes in action, including a level 1 Rogue named Rook, the scout Lace Harding, an ice mage Neve Gallus, and Varric as they take on demons during a mission to stop the Veil from being destroyed by Solas. The video also showcases dialogue options and how choices can impact your companions, the city of Minrathous under attack, a fight in the Arlathan forest location, a peek at the ability wheel during combat, and much more.

Embark on a quest to face powerful Elven gods and stop the destruction they’re unleashing on the world. You are known as Rook, battling on the front lines alongside a compelling cast of companions with individual storylines and motivations. In true Dragon Age fashion, companions are central to the experience and as Rook, you must rise up, rally your crew and forge relationships to become the unexpected leader others believe in.

In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the Elven Trickster god of legend Solas wants to tear down the Veil that separates Thedas from the world of demons, restoring his people’s immortality and glory – even at the cost of countless lives. But his ritual goes awry, and his worst fears are realized, as two of his most ancient and powerful adversaries are released. They seek only to finish what they started millennia ago – the complete and utter domination of our world. Rook’s journey to stop these two powerful deities will span across all of Thedas to bustling cities, lush tropics, boreal forests, fettered swamps and the deepest depths, but be wary of the evil forces along the way like the Dark Spawn, Venatori Cultists and Demons of the Fade.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is launching in Fall 2024 for PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam and Epic Games Store).

Looks more like a hack and slash than a Dragon Age of Old. Should have went back to Origins.

Not Xbox related in itself but it is video game related and it makes me happy I quit playing multiplayer games years ago!

What did you think of the Xbox Games Showcase?

Including some Game Pass titles!

Just after the Xbox Games Showcase 2024 ended yesterday, the good folks over at PC Gamer held the PC Gaming Show 2024 - and it featured plenty of Xbox games including some upcoming Xbox Game Pass titles!

Some of the highlights here include a new Cities: Skylines-style football game called Copa City, a Game Pass reveal in the form of Star Trucker along with an early 2025 window for Citizen Sleeper 2, and the launch trailer for June's much-anticipated Still Wakes The Deep!

Arguably one of the more intriguing new game announcements from tonight's Xbox Games Showcase, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a new turn-based RPG from French studio Sandfall Interactive.

Combining fantasy and 'Belle Époque' art influences, you'll be leading the titular expedition to try and stop the mysterious Paintress, a being who's slowly wiping out the last remnants of humanity by painting numbers on a strange monolith - with each number killing off everyone who's that particular age.

A slightly convoluted setup to write down in words, perhaps, but the idea of your 'number being up' and having fewer and fewer folks to help aid you in your fight against fate with every passing year is strong indeed, so why not have a gander at the reveal trailer below:

Kicking off this evening's Xbox showcase, we got a look at Doom: The Dark Ages, and oh my days, it looks awesome.

"Before he became a hero," the video begins, "he was the super weapon of gods and kings." And what a super weapon he was. But, don't let me tell you. You can check out Doom: The Dark Ages' reveal trailer for yourself below.

Doom: The Dark Ages will serve as a prequel to 2016's Doom and Doom Eternal. It is described as a single-player action FPS that "tells the epic cinematic origin story of the Doom Slayer's rage", and of course, it is being developed by id Software.

The Killing Floor series of horror-themed first-person shooters has been around for a long time. The first game was a bit rough looking but fun. Killing Floor 2 then came along and looked like the first game but better. Now, Killing Floor 3 is in the works, and it looks like the second game but better. We know this for sure because the new game's first gameplay trailer has just debuted. Yes, it looks like the previous game, but also incredibly fun!

Official description:

The year is 2091, 70 years after the events in Killing Floor 2, and megacorp Horzine has produced the ultimate army: an obedient horde of bio-engineered monstrosities called Zeds. Now, the only thing standing between these infernal creations and the future of humanity is the rebel rogue group known as Nightfall. This intense first-person shooter puts players in the role of a Nightfall specialist, joining forces with up to five teammates as they battle through a war-ravaged, dystopian future, surviving unrelenting waves of Zeds, unlocking new skills, and building the ultimate arsenal.

Killing Floor 3

We hear that Killing Floor 3 has changed up the traditional class system. Now, weapons will be tied to specific classes rather than being usable by all of them. This takes away a little bit of freedom but makes the different classes more unique and special. Like, if you're playing a medic, you should probably be using medic weapons anyway, right? We'll see how much this affects the overall experience when the game comes out next year. I'm hoping for more boss variety too. Killing Floor 2 is one of the best and most enduring co-op FPS of all time, so we have high hopes for part 3!

Killing Floor 3 is coming to Xbox Series S|X, PlayStation 5, Steam, and Epic in early 2025. Well, we sure hope it will launch on all platforms simultaneously this time!

A brand new game in the Gears of War series has been announced, and surprise! It’s not Gears 6. Gears of War: E-Day brings the series back to the beginning, the very beginning, in fact. We will reunite with fan favorite characters Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago in a game set more than a decade …

Another first-party Game Pass release.

We've been waiting on a date for Age of Mythology: Retold for a while now, and we've finally got one! As revealed at the Xbox Games Showcase 2024, this RTS game is coming to Xbox Series X, Series S and PC on September 4th, 2024!

You can check out the brand-new trailer up above, and we'll throw more details down below.

A decade after Inquisition, Dragon Age returns

At Sunday’s Xbox Games Showcase, BioWare premiered a new trailer for Dragon Age: The Veilguard (formerly Dreadwolf), featuring something that fans of the storied role-playing game franchise have awaited for a decade: a release window. Dragon Age: The Veilguard will officially launch sometime this fall, on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.

The new trailer for the fourth mainline Dragon Age game was more of a tone-setter, introducing players to the adventurers they’ll fight alongside in The Veilguard. Those allies include:

Harding: The Scout Neve: The Detective Emmrich: The Necromancer Taash: The Dragon Hunter Davrin: The Warden Bellara: The Veil Jumper Lucanis: The Mage Killer

BioWare promises those seven companions will have rich lives and deep backstories, and that you can befriend them, and even fall in love with them, over the course of the single-player narrative. Expect to learn more about Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s companions and how they’ll play during a gameplay reveal livestream on June 11.

Little has been revealed about the follow-up to Polygon’s 2014 game of the year up to this point, other than that it will be set in several nations previously unexplored in a core Dragon Age game, and that it will continue the story of Solas, a rogue mage and companion character from Inquisition who inspired the legendary figure of the Dread Wolf and wants to tear reality apart.

However, BioWare shared in blog post last week, those behind the game felt like naming the game after the Dread Wolf felt a little off. “Naturally, the Dread Wolf still has an important part in this tale, but you and your companions — not your enemies — are the heart of this new experience.”

Dragon Age games are known for their rich companion characters, and The Veilguard boasts a collection of seven, with “deep and compelling storylines where the decisions you make will impact your relationships with them – as well as their lives.”

It’s been a long and rocky road for The Veilguard, especially of late, with layoffs at BioWare, including all members of Canada’s first games industry union in 2023, former employees suing for inadequate severance, and in general a high level of turnover among veteran Dragon Age staff and writers, including creative director Mike Laidlaw in 2017, producer Mark Darrah in 2020 (though he later returned as a consultant), and writer Mary Kirby in 2023.

Only time will tell if The Veilguard can once again reach the heights of its predecessors. But now we know when that time is.

Not for the faint-hearted.

We might be missing out on the upcoming Silent Hill 2 Remake over on Xbox, but Slitterhead is here to fill that gap! Yep, some of the minds behind Konami's famous horror franchise are splitting off to make Slitterhead later this year.

The game is confirmed for Xbox Series X|S, and we have an official release date of November 8th, 2024. You can check out the title's gameplay debut up above - we think Slitterhead is looking pretty good so far and it's nice to see it release so soon!

"Join up now".

If you've been hanging out for a new Starship Troopers experience on Xbox Series X|S, it's today been announced that Starship Troopers: Extermination will exit its early access phase on October 11, 2024.

This title offers up "pulse-pounding" 16-player co-op first-person shooter action, where you'll join an elite squad and fight against the "bug menace" to save humanity. The latest update on the game also mentions how Casper Van Dien will return as Johnny Rico.

In what's likely to prove a highlight of the Summer Game Fest schedule, It's nearly time for the Xbox Games Showcase stream, so here's everything you need to know about it, including when and where you can watch it.

Microsoft is keeping its cards close to its chest, saying we can expect "a first look at new games from Xbox Game Studios, leading creators, and partners from around the globe." That, and we'll also see updates on previously revealed games and what's coming to Game Pass.

As to what those games might be, your guess is as good as ours. Starfield’s Shattered Space expansion is due to release this fall, so a peep at that would make sense. There have also been reports of the next Gears of War game rearing its head, though we'll need to wait and see if that comes to be.

Mind you, we do know that we're getting a good look at Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, though it doesn't quite count as that's getting a showcase to itself after the Xbox Games Showcase ends. Still, I rather think I prefer going into something totally blind, don't you?

Thankfully, we do know when the Xbox Showcase stream kicks off and where you can watch it, so read on for those nuggets of information.

Xbox Games Showcase 2024 start time The Xbox Games Showcase for 2024 starts at 10am PDT, 1pm EDT, and 6pm BST on June 9. Once it's wrapped up, the Black Ops 6-focused showcase is due to begin. While Microsoft hasn't confirmed how long the Xbox Games Showcase runs for, last year it was roughly one hour before we jumped into a Starfield Direct. That's not to say this year's showcase will be the same, but it's something to work with.

Xbox Games Showcase 2024 stream – how can I watch it? You can find an Xbox Games Showcase stream on YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook, where you can watch them, too. As always, each live stream will likely go up five to ten minutes before the broadcast is due to begin, so get your drinks and snacks and settle in.