French indie developer Exalted Studio and independent publisher Dear Villagers are proud to announce that Big Helmet Heroes (trailer, website, press kit), the zany 3D beat'em up that combines charismatic heroes with unique powers, exhilarating action and beautifully detailed animations is now available on PC (Steam, EGS), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

The game is available at the price of 24,99 USD for the base edition on all platforms, and 29,99 USD for the Exalted Edition (includes an art book and the OST) on Steam, Epic Games Store, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5.

SteamDolls, the debut stealth-meets-action platformer delight by French-Belgian studio The Shady Gentleman, will launch February 11th at 1pm EST / 10am PST / 6pm UTC into Steam Early Access. A new trailer has been released as well, officially revealing the launch date.

Play as the bloodthirsty, witty, and just a bit kooky Whisper (played by David Hayter) and balance both stealth and brutality as you make your way through a comic book-inspired steampunk city on the verge of anarchy. A free demo also remains available, featuring the intro sequence the game. The game will be available in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish at launch, and contain about 6 chapters of the game, totaling an estimated 5-7 hours of content. The game's developers are hoping to gather player feedback to improve mechanics, balancing, and content leading up to the 1.0 launch.

From the very first time we were introduced to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 at last June's Xbox Games Showcase, it was clear we were witnessing something special. And, every time this incredible-looking game's debut developer, Sandfall Interactive, has dropped tantalizing glimpses of its debut game since then, hype levels among RPG enjoyers only continue to rise.

Which brings us to today's Developer_Direct, where we traveled to Montpellier, France to meet the minds behind one of the most exciting new RPGs in years, and learn more than ever before. After establishing that this surprisingly small team of creators works out of a French manor(!), the development team peeled back even more layers of their finely crafted mille feuille of an RPG, revealing delicious details on the game's emotional story, original world, how its gameplay innovates on classics of the genre. They also shared its April 24 release date; you can pre-order here and play it day one with Game Pass!

The HPC research projects DEEP-SEA, IO-SEA and RED-SEA are wrapping up this month after a three-year project term. The three projects worked together to develop key technologies for European Exascale supercomputers, based on the Modular Supercomputing Architecture (MSA), a blueprint architecture for highly efficient and scalable heterogeneous Exascale HPC systems. To achieve this, the three projects collaborated on system software and programming environments, data management and storage, as well as interconnects adapted to this architecture. The results of their joint work will be presented at a co-design workshop and poster session at the EuroHPC Summit (Antwerp, 18-21 March, www.eurohpcsummit.eu).

2:21, a French development team is well versed in Unreal Engine 5-based games development—as of last year they were in the process of utilizing Epic's tech to remake Adeline Software's classic duo of Little Big Adventure (1994) and Little Big Adventure 2 (1997), as well as a now cancelled series reboot. Following on from recent-ish good news—regarding a new publication deal—CEO Ben Limare has announced that his team is moving away from UE5: "In June 2023, you experienced an initial prototype on Proxima Island, developed in a short time by a small team. Despite its imperfections, this prototype was a crucial springboard for engaging with you and understanding your expectations. This prototype was built using Unreal Engine 5, with an almost manual reconstruction of the island. Faced with the challenge of replicating this method for a larger world in a limited time, we opted for a complete overhaul of the game, based on new foundations."

Limare revealed to long-term fans that development of "Twinsen's Little Big Adventure" has already quietly transferred over to the Unity Engine—a strange choice given last year's fallout over "Runtime Fees." Unity Technologies is not winning any popularity contests in modern times—CEO John Riccitiello resigned last October, during payment plan upheavals. 2.21 developers did their very best to carry on with UE5, but legacy code demanded a pivot to a compatible foundation. Limare has roped in another Adeline Software veteran: "The answer lies in the work of Sébastien Viannay, a developer on the original games, as well as the mobile port. It was during the work on the latter that Seb developed a small tool to setup the pathfinding—that is, the ability to tap a point on the screen and have Twinsen follow that direction. This tool interprets the original game's data to reconstruct the level and identify obstacles."

Hey, everyone! We're excited to bring you some big (and heartwarming) news today! Today is the day! Get ready to trade in John's bang-bang gun for a watering can, and embark on a tranquil new life in Octopia. (Don't worry, you'll still need that frying pan 🍳). In Eastward: Octopia, Sam and John return in a parallel world adventure, leaving the miasma and monsters behind them, to start a simpler life, living off the land. Get ready to trade swords (or may we say rusty pans?) for shovels and embark on a tranquil world of rural life, fishing, and culinary magic in Octopia, the brand-new DLC for Eastward, landing on Steam and Nintendo Switch TODAY at $5.99 / £4.99 / €5.89 / 700円 / ¥22 CNY, with a special launch offer of 15% off the DLC running from today until February 14th! We're also running special limited-time offers on the base game & bundle too.

"I haven't played Eastward! Do I have to play the base game to get the most out of the DLC?"
Eastward: Octopia takes place in a parallel universe, so there's no need to have finished (or even started) Eastward's base game story to enjoy the simple life—you can even play it straight from the menu. However, please note that a copy of Eastward is required to access the DLC. Although many familiar faces appear in Eastward: Octopia, the plot, gameplay and character 'settings' will be a completely new experience. Once you've purchased and downloaded the DLC, make sure the DLC is 'checked' in the base game properties. After starting the base game of Eastward in your Steam Library, you can then travel to the pastoral time and space of Eastward: Octopia is a single click from the main menu interface! 🚞

Bloomberg reports that French competition regulators have raided a business alleged to be engaging in "anti-competitive practices in the graphics cards sector," which the Wall Street Journal identified as NVIDIA. The dawn raid was authorized by a liberty and custody judge, France's competition authority said in its statement, where it did not name NVIDIA. The regulator clarified that raids "do not presuppose the existence of a breach of law, which only a full investigation into the merits of the case could establish, if appropriate."

It's pertinent to note here, that while the anti-competitive allegations concern "graphics cards," the allegation is that the company (identified by WSJ as NVIDIA) has cornered the AI GPU market, and which is responsible for the rise of NVIDIA as the largest hardware company in Silicon Valley by market capitalization. While NVIDIA's AI HPC processors lack any raster graphics components, they are still considered GPUs, as they are built on the same principles, and for the most part, share a microarchitecture with gaming GPUs. Meanwhile, Bloomberg notes that the NVIDIA stock remains completely unfazed by the developments in France. "The shares gained 1.5% to $430.89 at the close in New York trading Thursday, bringing their year-to-date gain to 195%," it wrote.

Two months ago French developer - 2:21 - announced plans for complete remasters of the quirky mid-to-late Nineties-era Little Big Adventure or Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure/Odyssey (titles were confusingly region dependent back then) games series. The team has paused work on a third entry/reboot, and development of spruced-up versions of the original games has since become the priority - both LBA Remasters are being rebuilt on the Unreal Engine 5 platform, and key members from the old Adeline Software outfit are involved in the remake process.

Ben Limare, the CEO at 2:21, has provided a small update this week - he mentions that a new teaser trailer was debuted at AG French Direct, and now the pre-alpha gameplay footage has been uploaded to YouTube and the company's social media accounts. The introduction states: "Discover the first video and images of the upcoming demo for Twinsen's Little Big Adventure Remastered! Built from the ground up, enjoy new breathtaking visuals, enhanced music and improved, deeper gameplay as Twinsen's Little Big Adventure - Remastered reignites the original TLBA game using the latest next-generation technology." The team reconfirms that a demo version of Twinsen's Little Big Adventure 1 Remastered will be playable in June.

There are strong indications that Oppo is winding down its operations in France according to a report published by Frandroid last weekend, which goes against the company's denial that it was exiting several markets across the European Union, including France. Frandroid's investigative piece states that French retail workers had provided enough evidence, back in late March, for the publication to make the claim that Oppo was withdrawing from that region. The news outlet has gathered more insider information since then and now claims that a promotions company - Atmospheres - has not been contracted to help market Oppo's lastest smartphone models, including the Find N2 Flip. The agreement between the two firms was already set to end on June 30, but the promo team was expecting a renewal or extension - their boss finally admitted that it was all over and done with.

Frandroid has observed that Oppo is not updating its display material at big box stores, in particular Fnac Darty, and a salesperson confirmed that that they were only obligated to clear existing smartphone stock and related accessories. A former Oppo regional sales manager told the publication about a cessation of product training - under normal circumstances the team gets briefed about the latest products in advance, but the insider confides (under an alias): "We understood that they were leaving...We see the Find X coming out in China, oh no, it's not coming out in France. We see the new Reno phones arriving, will they be released in France? Neither. When the Find N2 Flip arrives, we are told of a store release, and then finally no, it is only available on the web store."

Voice of the People adds more Radicals, Reactionaries, and Reformers. In a century of dramatic political upheaval, many world leaders had to deal with influential and charismatic figures - dynamic political personalities who forcefully advocated for social and economic progress or tried to resist the tides of history in favor of tradition. Voice of the People, a new Immersion Pack for Victoria 3, challenges you to handle some of history's greatest political agitators, coming May 22.

In Voice of the People, the new Agitator system is highlighted with the addition of dozens of historical figures who break convention and build political power behind the force of their personality. Meet intellectuals like Mikhail Bakunin, conservative militarists like Georges Boulanger, and voices for freedom like Frederick Douglas in this addition to Paradox Interactive's critically acclaimed historical society simulation.

Unrecord is a single-player FPS that tells the story of a tactical police officer from the perspective of his body camera. As you work to solve a complex case, you'll need to use your tactical and detective skills to succeed. Unrecord is a tactical shooter where players can expect an immersive and narrative experience. Unrecord features complex dialogues, innovative gameplay mechanics, tough moral dilemmas, and a unique shooting system. The storyline in Unrecord can be compared to a detective novel or a thriller. The player will have to investigate several criminal cases and confront a diverse cast of characters. The game's plot and presentation will be central to the gameplay experience, and players can anticipate a range of gameplay sequences as well as numerous plot twists. Wishlist Unrecord now to stay up to date on the latest news and updates! Read on for a post-reveal and response to questions and concerns from players. Yes, it's a game.

1. Scam or Real Gameplay Footage?
There have been many doubts raised about the authenticity of the gameplay. The game is developed on Unreal Engine 5, and the game footage is captured from an executable and played using a keyboard and mouse. It is not a VR game. In reality, it seems rather flattering to compare the graphics of Unrecord to reality, but fortunately, we know that a game first focuses on gameplay and universe on which we primarily concentrate. Considering the high production costs of a video game and our global reputation at stake, if Unrecord were a scam, it would be a blockbuster scam. Therefore, it is logically not one. We do not use any real videos or external rendering to Unreal Engine for the creation of Unrecord. Unrecord is (un)real.

French developer 2:21 this week announced its intentions to produce remastered versions of its Twinsen's Little Big Adventure games. A planned third game has been delayed beyond 2024, the original intention was to release this sequel in time for the 30th Anniversary of the series, but development has only reached a prototype phase. The remasters will serve as an interim proof of potential to prospective publishers of the third game. These updated versions have been assembled by a small team, with the Unreal Engine 5 serving as the technological base.

The original Little Big Adventure was released and published by Electronic Arts in 1994, and the second in 1997. Activision dealt with the latter's distribution in North America. Certain territories received retitled versions - Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure (1) and Twinsen's Odyssey (2) - this inconsistent branding by market departments caused much confusion during the nascent days of gaming discussion online. The 2:21 team has sought to hybridize the different titles, but the 'Relentless' moniker is no longer part of its new naming system, thankfully.