Season 2 of The Finals launches on March 14, and strange things are happening in the arena. The game show has been compromised by the rogue hacking collective CNS, and showrunners are scrambling to decipher their cryptic messages—but one thing is clear: the show must go on! Throughout the jam-packed season of this free-to-play game, contestants can experience new weapons for each class, the hacked new map SYS$HORIZON, the all-new 5v5 game mode Power Shift, a new skill-based League System, rewarded weekly career progression, private matches—for now in a feature-limited beta version—and the new Hacker Playstyle, which adds several ways for contestants to alter the arena to their favor.

THE Finals' new Hacker Playstyle lets players step into the shoes of CNS, with a set of new gadgets and a new specialization that can be mixed and matched with players' existing toolset. Remove walls, defy gravity, tunnel across the arena, and transform items—become the glitch in the system, the ultimate cyber tactician, and bring a new dimension to the game.

Electronic Arts revealed a workforce reduction program last week—reportedly impacting around 670 employees—alongside announcements regarding a number of major development project cancellations and reassignments. Laura Miele, President of EA Entertainment and Technology, disclosed that Respawn Entertainment's mysterious "Star Wars FPS Action game" had been axed, with staffers moving onto "new projects based on our owned brands" instead of licensed material. Industry insider reports suggested that an internal Respawn team—not assigned to a "Star Wars: Jedi" sequel—had started work on a Mandalorian/bounty hunter-themed first-person shooter IP. The official announcement of a renewed focus on Respawn's "rich library of owned brands" has generated plenty of internet speculation—Titanfall franchise fans have long demanded a proper third entry in the series. Studio boss, Vince Zampella, has teased revisits in the past—an Axios interview revealed that veteran Titanfall game director, Steve Fukuda, was incubating "something new" with a very small skunkworks-type team.

Earlier this week, Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb addressed rumored goings-on at Respawn. His "Game Mess Mornings 03/04/24" videocast—co-hosted by Emma Fyffe—included a segment dedicated to EA's adjusted development strategies. Grubb reiterated insider information about "Titanfall Legends" getting canned early on last year—allegedly a single-player Apex/Titanfall crossover experience. Giant Bomb's News Editor has reached out to his network of moles—he shared this inside info during Monday's broadcast: "They're not making Titanfall 3. They just straight up aren't. They do have another team that has been kicking around a project that is very early. There's been a very small team in the prototyping phase and now they're going to go to wider. This is a real project now, but still in the prototyping phase. This game, as it stands today, as far as I understand, is a Titanfall game. It's in the Titanfall universe. But everyone I talk to keeps saying, don't get in your mind that it's Titanfall 3, a game with online multiplayer and a single player campaign."

Grab your gear and your controller, soldiers. It's time to return to the battlefront. During yesterday's Nintendo Direct, Aspyr and Lucasfilm Games revealed Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection, which will see the beloved Star Wars Battlefront (2004) and Star Wars Battlefront II (2005) introduced to a new generation. Coming March 14 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam for $35.01.

Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection features restored online play for up to 64 players, expansions to Hero Assault mode, and all previously released bonus content for both titles. Steam users will also enjoy Steam Deck support. Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection includes a galaxy of content inspired by the original and prequel trilogies, from famous battles across Episodes I-VI, to playable heroes and villains like Asajj Ventress, Darth Vader, and more, to unique modes and challenges.

Job listings posted by Respawn Entertainment last summer indicated that their Star Wars Jedi: Survivor development team had moved onto an unsurprising project—the ideal candidate(s) would help: "create an incredible Star Wars experience for our players in a fun, third-person action-adventure setting." Games industry watchers believe that a third Star Wars Jedi title is in the works, given that the franchise has—so far—generated a large paying audience. Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson reckons that another Star Wars IP has been bestowed upon Electronic Art's action specialist studio—the report posits that this rumored project is in an early stage of development. Veteran developers at Respawn Entertainment have a long history of producing blockbuster first-person shooter titles, although Apex Legends signaled a slight change in course. Their deviation into third-person with 2019's Jedi: Fallen Order also surprised a segment of longtime Respawn fans.

It is possible that the Electronic Arts and Lucasfilm Games partnership has incubated a new first-person title semi-connected to a popular Star Wars television series IP—Henderson has gathered a few tidbits: "according to sources, the game will see the player take control of a Mandalorian bounty hunter (unclear who) set during the time when the Galactic Empire is dominating across the galaxy. It's your job, as a bounty hunter to capture bounties dead or alive for cash rewards." Rumor mill wires were crossed when it was claimed that a former Apex Legend director was heading up development on the unannounced "Mandalorian" project, but an Insider Gaming update reveals that the former Respawn member was involved in development of a cancelled Apex title.

Tune up your boltgun and prepare for the hoard, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is swarming onto Xbox Series X|S today. A spiritual successor to Warhammer: Vermintide, Darktide takes developer Fatshark's ferocious, co-op-focused combat and drops you right into the blistered heart of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Alongside its Game Pass launch, Darktide is also set to drop its biggest and most game-changing update yet. Patch 13 will introduce new class systems for each playable archetype and a ton of other game-play refining updates. This is the ultimate version of Darktide, so ahead of its console release, we had the opportunity to chat with three developers from Fatshark about why now is the perfect time to get stuck in.

The scheduled maintenance carried out last week has fixed the initial matchmaking issues that occurred during Payday 3's first few days after launch. Matchmaking has been stable and has had good performance after the completed maintenance. In the past five days, PAYDAY 3 had a peak concurrent players (CCU) of 124,254. In September 2023, the game had 3,167,938 unique players (MAU). Starbreeze Nebula has a total of 4,538,702 registered users across all titles.

Starbreeze will now intensify the commercial activities around Payday 3, after partially pausing these during the previous week. In early October, the first update to Payday 3 will launch, focusing on improving the game experience. The coming months include planned updates for PAYDAY 3 that address both content, Quality of Life-improvements, bug fixes and new functionality.

The free Update 2.0 for Cyberpunk 2077 is being rolled out on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S! It brings an overhaul to a number of gameplay mechanics and core game features (such as the police system and Perk trees) along with various fixes and improvements. These changes apply to the base game and are available to all players on PC and current-gen consoles, free of charge. There's more to come on September 26th for owners of the Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion!

You can continue playing from existing saves, but in order to have the best experience of the extensive changes we made, we recommend starting a new playthrough. Come September 26th, owners of Phantom Liberty will also have the option to jump straight into the story of the expansion by starting a new game with a new character that is already adequately leveled up. Because changes to crucial game systems are extensive, we strongly recommend uninstalling pre-2.0 mods until the modding community has a chance to update them. Outdated mods can disrupt the experience in many ways and, in some situations, may cause critical errors.

"The witchfire in my blood had cooled, with most of it having already evaporated. Were the last drop to have gone, so would I be too, awakening in Hell. The rescue, unlikely as it was, came thanks to human greed and stupidity." This line—taken from a short story called The Preyer written by The Astronauts' Creative Director Adrian Chmielarz—sets up the world of Witchfire, releases today (September 20) in Early Access on the Epic Games Store. Just before launch, we interviewed Chmielarz and The Astronauts Game Designer Karol Krok and asked them what to expect from Witchfire, how it came to be, and what the development process was like. Read on for more details...

Swapping sci-fi for fantasy
If you haven't heard much about Witchfire, it's because The Astronauts is a small studio and unwilling to share spoilers—and every reveal they make feels like it could be a spoiler. Not too much is known about Witchfire, as a result. "We want the players to have that beautiful experience of discovering things on their own, to be surprised," Chmielarz said. "We promise to show more near the Early Access release day, so everyone can make an informed decision." The Astronauts released a trailer during Summer Game Fest back in June that demonstrated how Witchfire will have an element of exploration and discovery, of planning and thinking. At the same time, it offers plenty of action as well. It's a dark fantasy with spells—and it's also a first-person shooter with guns, as you can see from the trailers. It's technically a roguelite, or similar to a dungeon crawler, with harsh death conditions for the player. And The Astronauts also advertise Witchfire as having multiple ways to win.

Hello heisters, we want to inform you that Denuvo is no longer in Payday 3. We look forward to seeing you in New York City! Payday 3's release is coming very close, and it's been a long time since we announced that Payday 3's release date is on the 21st of September, with Silver/Gold owners being able to Play Early starting on the 18th. However, one popular reoccurring question has been; At what time?

To best answer this question, our creative team has made us this fantastic asset with a world map, and the release times listed in several popular time zones all over the world. Check it out, for a fast glance at when you need can get in-game.

Focus Entertainment and Dream Powered Games are thrilled to announce that Warstride Challenges v1.0 is now available on PC, as well as on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series! The high-octane fast-FPS in which you blast demons in satisfying one-minute massacres has left early access after over a year of continuous improvement. The small, close-knit team of passionate devs thanks the community of Warstriders wholeheartedly for its amazing involvement. Want to give it a try and test your skills? A free demo is available for both newcomers and challenge lovers on Steam.

RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK
In hellish challenges, blast hordes of demons at lightning speed with powerful abilities and weapons. Slow time to pull off impossible headshots, bunny hop to pick up speed, slide around corners and shred your enemies into pieces with destructive shockwaves!

There appears to be a faction of hardcore PC gamers within the Microsoft Windows software engineering team—as evidenced in a developer blog post from late May. The section relating to "Reduced game stutter with high report rate mice" provided an early preview for improvements recently rolled out in a Windows 11 update (KB5028185 issued on July 11th). This week's fix "improves your computer's performance when you use a mouse that has a high report rate for gaming." Gamers running PCs on Windows 10 (or earlier) are—unfortunately—missing out on this latest and greatest feature.

Microsoft's blog stated: We know gamers hate stutter, and we're fixing issues throughout Windows so that an untimely frame-freeze won't take gamers out of their immersive experiences. Gamers love to push their systems to the limit in search of the best experiences in-game. Many also use sensitive, high DPI, high report rate mice to shave milliseconds off their response times and increase precision. At the same time, the world of gaming is more connected than ever with gamers relying on an increasing number of background apps while playing, like voice chat, streaming, apps for configuring your keyboard, mouse, or graphics card, and more. The Windows input stack was being pushed to its limits with high report rate mice and their input being delivered to not just the game, but also multiple background processes. In turn, that caused a significant amount of time processing input rather than providing as many cycles as possible for rendering the game experience."

BattleBit Remastered, a low poly alternative to EA's Battlefield franchise, was released two weeks ago via Steam Early Access. Developer SgtOkiDoki has announced that their massively multiplayer online first-person has sold a respectable 1,800,000 copies (at $14.99 a pop) in a relatively short span of time. The game has been in the works since 2016, with its early access launch occurring on June 15 (2023). BattleBit received some attention following the poor launch state of Battlefield 2042, with long term fans suggesting that their money would be best spent on the less visually appealing indie title. Streamers and influencers also focused more community eyes on BattleBit early last year.

Feedback on Steam—"Very Positive" from over 40,000 users indicates that first person shooter fans are enjoying the BattleBit Remastered experience, despite its primitive and blocky art style—SgtOkiDoki recently revealed some insights to How to Market a Game: "Players have an assumption about your game...And if the screenshots don't match the gameplay you have a problem. Our game played like Squad but looked like Roblox. That was a terrible move." Apparently BattleBit had a more military simulator approach earlier on in development, which clashed with its simplistic aesthetics. "We had to make a decision...(the team) had to pull back and make the game more open for arcade. It wasn't a decision I enjoyed, but I had to do it. It turned out it was a good decision." SgtOkiDoki's operation is expanding thanks to the BattleBit's success, but additional staffers will be dealing with an increase in DDOS attacks and a growing number of cheaters within the game's very active population.

Greetings everyone! I'm Jovan, Technical Artist at Ebb Software. The whole team here found joy in bringing you nightmarish experiences that will fully immerse you into somber tapestries. And today we're excited to reveal that our first game, Scorn, will come to PlayStation 5 later this year. Many of you here may be new to Scorn, so for those less familiar with the game, you are about to experience a horrific adventure like no other. Trapped and stranded in a strange biomechanical world, you must make your way through a civilization in decay, now inhabited with twisted and grotesque creatures. While you will be able to wield various weapons in the game, Scorn is not a shooter, and each encounter can quickly turn deadly. Ammo and life are scarce, and your wits will often advise you to avoid direct confrontation. Instead, to progress through this mesmerizing labyrinth, you will have to revive and activate abandoned contraptions, part machine, part flesh, all horror.

We like to compare it to the experience of a nightmare. Most often, nightmares are described as strong subjective experiences that can be intensely distressing and frightening, eliciting emotional responses in dreamers, and causing feelings of fear, anxiety, and terror. Scorn tries to offer these emotions to its players in a very subtle manner through a somber atmosphere and its gloomy corridors.

As of September 21, 2023, Call of Duty: Warzone Caldera will shut down, as our teams focus on future Call of Duty content including the current Warzone free-to-play experience. We all have had incredible Warzone experiences across the Call of Duty franchise since its first launch, including those in Warzone Caldera. For those players who haven't jumped over to the current Warzone activities, expect a vast number of gameplay choices across three Battle Royale maps (including Season 04's new map Vondel), as well as Ranked Play, the DMZ Beta featuring five different Extraction Zones, BlackCell offerings, and more.

Players should prepare for even more Warzone content across consoles and PC, as well as a new era of Battle Royale on the go with the launch of Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile, which includes a shared Battle Pass and cross-progression. The Call of Duty team and Studios look forward to sharing more details soon. Regarding purchased content in Warzone Caldera - from Modern Warfare (2019), Black Ops Cold War, or Vanguard - that will continue to be accessible in those specific games.

Homies, it's time! Trepang2 is OUT NOW on Steam and GOG! We can't believe we're finally typing out those words. What a rollercoaster of a journey for the devs here at Trepang Studios. Thank you for the endless support and determination to help us see Trepang2 through to release, we thoroughly appreciate every single one of you.

Please don't hesitate to share your feedback with us, we're so excited to see what you think of your voyage with the relentless Subject 106. Enjoy the carnage. Enjoy reprimanding those that have the gumption to contend with your abilities; your unwavering, unadulterated focus to getting the job done. Retribution awaits…BREAK. THE. CYCLE.

DEMO OUT NOW - It's time to GET LUDICROUS (for free). Shareware Lives! Just in time for Steam Next Fest we've released the Shareware Demo (it's just a demo) for...Rise of the Triad: LUDICROUS EDITION.

Join the H.U.N.T., an elite squad of special forces, and investigate mysterious activity off the California coast to unravel the mystery of the Triad cult. Select from five operatives, each with their own hit points, speed, and accuracy statistics, and blast a path back to Los Angeles. Play through five separate campaigns, including new episodes, expansion packs, and never-before-seen Rise of the Triad content from previously-lost beta builds.

As we are about to enter the second to last week of June, we got another packed week of new releases, with this week's AAA title being an action RTS game that may involve things exploding out of your chest. The rest of next week's release contains a mix of mostly several new FPS games, but also some Mayan action and a different take on the racing game genre.

Aliens: Dark Descent / This week's AAA title / Tuesday 20 June
Drop into the gripping journey of Aliens: Dark Descent, a squad-based, single-player action game in the iconic Alien franchise. Lead your soldiers in real-time to stop a new and terrifying kind of Xenomorph outbreak on Planet Lethe.

XDefiant will launch later this summer, but players won't have to wait that long to play a few more rounds of the free-to-play PVP shooter. Announced at Ubisoft Forward, XDefiant will be running an Open Session for all players on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S from June 21-23; sign up by going to PlayXDefiant.com. Anyone who participated in the Closed Beta in April can log in a day early to participate in a special Early Access phase of the Open Session starting on June 20. Over one million players played in the Closed Beta, which was integral in helping the team test myriad aspects of the game and gather feedback.

"We received a lot of great feedback from our players after the end of our Closed Beta," says creative director Safy Saada, "and for the Open Session, we'll likely see some new faction balancing (particularly for Libertad) based on player feedback, as well as weapon balancing based on data we've collected from the Closed Beta."

Frictional Games details how you'll keep yourself alive and out of danger in this new take on the horror series. Thomas Grip, Creative Director states: "When we first started with game creation at Frictional Games, we knew we wanted to make immersive horror experiences. We threw in everything we could think of: puzzles, physics, combat, creepy dream sequences - you name it. Those of you who played Penumbra: Overture will remember these elements well. Now, as we approach the launch of Amnesia: The Bunker - out on June 6 - we wanted to take a look back at how we've further refined our formula and approach to games.

The real breakthrough arrived with Amnesia: The Dark Descent. We started focusing on key aspects that led to a much more engaging experience. We cut away combat and all other aspects that didn't directly fuel the horror experience. This led to players noticing more about their environment and becoming more deeply engaged. A simple sound effect, for instance, could trigger intense reactions, causing players to run and hide. Players become immersed with the happenings in a way we hadn't seen before."

Only one day to wait before the release of Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun! We're sure you can't wait to get your hands on this explosive boomer shooter, so to manage your wait, we cooked this explosive Extended Gameplay Trailer, showcasing a viciously satisfying gameplay footage topped off with a climactic boss fight! Pre-order now ahead of Boltgun's Steam release on May 23.

Plunge headlong into the grim darkness of the far future!
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a single-player FPS that delivers a hardcore, neo-retro experience in an iconic '90s style, putting you in the ceramite armored boots of the ultimate killing machine: a Space Marine. One week before it launches, take a nice, good, nostalgic look at the devastating, visceral and gory gameplay that is about to obliterate the daemons of Chaos.

It is time to purge the heretics! Get ready for Boltgun, a gory, rapid-fire boomer shooter blast from the past that is as nostalgic as its gameplay is fluid and modern. You will take control of a mighty Sternguard Veteran along with his faithful servo-skull and plunge headlong into the grim dark universe of Warhammer 40,000. Summoned by the Inquisition, ready your righteous arsenal, your indomitable armor and your battle-honed instincts to Scour Graia, a Forge World on the brink, overrun by Cultists, Traitors and Daemons.

Blast cultists apart with your mighty Boltgun! Smash traitors with your Charge! Shred the spawn of the Archenemy with your Chainsword! Maim and obliterate hordes of foes with your array of iconic weapons! Only in death does duty end! Unleash your wrath upon the enemies of the Imperium!

The day has come - Voidtrain is finally available on Steam! Grab the game with a 10% launch discount, bring your friends with you and embark on an endless journey through the breathtaking worlds of the Void. And there's Deluxe Edition as well! While Voidtrain is already a visually appealing game (at least we hope so), we also have a Supporter Upgrade for approx. half price of the game that will take it to the next level. This pack includes a variety of unique in-game skins and decor items, as well as our heartfelt gratitude for your support.

Become a crew member of an Interdimensional Express Train! Discover a new world full of mysterious creatures, enemies and places. Upgrade and customize your train, gather new materials and build better weapons. Play solo or online сo-op with up to 4 people. You are an engineer thrust into the strange and mysterious Void, a world with its own history, rules and future. Build and upgrade your own train, craft powerful weapons, fight various enemies and survive the surreal landscapes of the Void alone or together with friends.

Baltarus is waiting for you, soldier. You can battle on the scorching deserts either as a Commander in RTS mode or as Infantry in FPS. Welcome to the world of Silica, a crossover of FPS and RTS, taking place in the scorching deserts of Baltarus, an exo-planet located thousands of light-years from Earth. Your mission is to locate and harvest Balterium, a powerful element with tremendous potential, or defend Baltarus from the invading humans as an insect-like alien. Choose from several game modes, including Strategy, where two teams build, harvest, and fight for domination.

Hello soldiers. The day you've been waiting for is finally here! Silica is out on Steam in Early Access. You can now immerse yourself in the scorching deserts of Baltarus, where RTS seamlessly blends with FPS. The price of the game is set at $19.99 during Early Access and at $24.99 after its conclusion. Choose your role between the Commander in real-time strategy, whose mission is to build the base and structures needed to achieve victory, or as an Infantry soldier in FPS, where you fight on the front lines against your enemies. You'll get to control all the units and vehicles along with their arsenal.

Amnesia: The Bunker is a first-person horror game set in a desolate WW1 Bunker. Face the oppressing terrors stalking the dark corridors. Search for and use the tools and weapons at your disposal, while keeping the lights on at all costs. Overcome fear, persevere, and make your way out alive. Amnesia: The Bunker is a first-person horror game from the makers of SOMA and Amnesia.

RISING TENSION
Immerse yourself in the multiple ways of tackling survival. In the shoes of the French soldier Henri Clément, you are armed with a revolver gun, a noisy dynamo flashlight, and other scarce supplies to scavenge and craft along the way. With randomization and unpredictable behavior, no play-through is the same. Hunted by an ever-present threat reacting to your every move and sound, you must adapt your play-style to face hell. Every decision will change the outcome of how the game responds. Actions bear consequences.

Our latest GeForce Game Ready Driver gets your system ready for Redfall, which launches today with support for NVIDIA DLSS 3 and NVIDIA Reflex. Additionally, there's Game Ready support for the Diablo IV Server Slam and Showgunners, which both include DLSS. To download and install, head to the Drivers tab of GeForce Experience or GeForce.com, and read on for further details.

Game Ready For Redfall, Enhanced With NVIDIA DLSS 3 & Reflex
NVIDIA and Bethesda have partnered to bring our full slate of game-changing technologies to Redfall, an open-world, co-op FPS from Arkane Austin, the award-winning team behind Prey and Dishonored. In Redfall, the island town is under siege by a legion of vampires who have blocked out the sun and cut the citizens off from the outside world. Explore the open world, ally yourself with a handful of survivors against the creatures threatening to bleed the town dry, and immerse yourself in a deep story campaign as you unravel the mystery behind the vampires' appearance.