Today, the storied Battlefield franchise known for uncompromising all-out warfare and world-class gameplay for over two decades, announced the most ambitious community testing program in franchise history - Battlefield Labs. The work on the next Battlefield experience is entering a critical phase in development that will benefit from collaboration with the community like never before.

Sign Up for Battlefield Labs Are Now Open
The first phase of Battlefield Labs testing will go live in the coming weeks, and sign up to players is available now at battlefield.com/labs. Initial tests will include an invited group of players and servers located in Europe and North America ahead of plans to expand invitees and server locations in the future.

Welcome to February, also known as the shortest month of the year. This week's AAA release brings you some open-world medieval knight action. The rest of the week is pretty low-key, kicking off with a rather odd action-puzzle game which is followed by a new take on the vampire genre. Up next is some musical combat, some more knights, although this time we're back in Camelot and the week is finished off with a paranormal point-and-click adventure.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II / This week's AAA release / Tuesday 4 February
Diving back into the heart-pounding world of 15th Century Bohemia (Central Europe), Kingdom Come: Deliverance II picks up where its predecessor left off, thrusting players into the shoes of Henry, the steadfast son of a blacksmith, embroiled in a tumultuous tale of vengeance, betrayal, and self-discovery. In this gripping sequel, players will traverse a meticulously crafted medieval landscape, from the humble confines of a blacksmith's forge to the grandeur of royal courts, all while navigating the treacherous currents of a kingdom torn apart by civil war. Steam Link

Today SEGA kicks off the return of the VIRTUA FIGHTER franchise with the release of Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O., available for purchase now on Steam for £15.99 with a special launch discount of 20% off for a limited time (see Steam product page for details). This release marks the first time the franchise has come to the platform.

Based on Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown, Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. features rollback netcode and the first new balance adjustments in over 13 years, giving players the definitive fighting experience. Combined with support of up to 60 FPS/4K resolution, players can enjoy smoother gameplay in their quest to become the best fighter in the world.

Developer and publisher Tripwire Interactive today announced that the highly anticipated next chapter in the studio's legendary Killing Floor franchise, Killing Floor 3, will launch worldwide on March 25, 2025 for PC (via Steam and Epic Games Store), the PlayStation 5 system, and the Xbox Series X|S console systems. Tripwire also announced that pre-orders are now available for both retail and digital versions, along with detailing pricing, pre-order bonuses, and exclusive content across both standard and special editions. Digital pre-orders for PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, and retail pre-orders for console versions are live now. Digital pre-orders for console versions will be opening soon, with specific timing and updates available via Tripwire socials. In celebration, Tripwire has revealed the next in its series of Zed reveal videos, focused on the new and deadly Siren.

Like Zeds, Killing Floor 3 editions will come in many shapes and sizes between both digital and retail. All digital and retail pre-orders will include the limited timed exclusive Flatline Tactical Bundle (Flatliner weapon skin, Fear the Reaper trinket, and Special Action Force player card).

With nearly 900 cars available in the game, over 40 thematic game updates, two expansions, and so much more content, our team is excited to announce that this spring, PlayStation 5 players will be able to explore Mexico's beautiful roads and experience the Horizon Festival for the first time as we are officially launching Forza Horizon 5 on PS5.

The PlayStation 5 version of Forza Horizon 5, developed by Panic Button in partnership with Turn 10 Studios and Playground Games, will have the same content as the Xbox and PC releases of the game. Previously released Car Packs, as well as the Hot Wheels and Rally Adventure expansions, will also be available for purchase.

Rebellion, one of the world's most successful independent video game developers and publishers, has today launched Sniper Elite: Resistance, the latest instalment in the genre defining franchise. Sniper Elite: Resistance is available to play now on Game Pass, and available for purchase, both digitally and physically (with the boxed edition published by Fireshine Games) on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5 Pro, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4, Windows PC and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store.

As well as the Standard Edition, Sniper Elite: Resistance is also available in a Deluxe Edition, which will include additional Season Pass content. The game has been enhanced for the PlayStation Pro 5, offering players the chance to experience the game in full 4K resolution.

UK-based games publisher Kwalee and independent developer Galaxy Grove are thrilled to announce their new game, Town to City. The game is releasing on PC via Steam in 2025. Town to City is a charming city-building game where players can build an idyllic 19th century Mediterranean town and help it flourish into a prosperous society. They can freely place and customise each element to create the perfect home for their growing population in this cosy city builder from the creators of Station to Station. Kwalee and Galaxy Grove are excited to unveil an announcement trailer giving players a glimpse of what to expect from the game.

"We're thrilled to partner with Kwalee as our publisher! From the very beginning, they shared our passion for reimagining the city-builder genre with a fresh twist. Their belief in our vision and their unparalleled in-house publishing expertise have been instrumental in bringing this project to life. Today, we're excited to share our announcement trailer and can't wait to continue this journey together as we bring our game to completion!", said Joost van Dongen, Founder of Galaxy Grove

Time flies and we're already at the end of January and we have another packed week of new releases. This week's major release is already a couple of years old if you own a console, but it's only managed to swing its way onto PC now. This is followed by doing some engineering in space, going on an epic adventure to prevent the world from crumbling, some shape shifting action, being part of the French resistance and finally you can be the first sentient AI running a city. In addition to the games below, this week also brings: Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. and Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 / This week's major release / Thursday 30 January
Be Greater. Together. The incredible power of the symbiote forces Peter Parker and Miles Morales into a desperate fight as they balance their lives, friendships, and their duty to protect in an exciting chapter of the critically acclaimed Spider-Man franchise on PC. Steam link

FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH, winner of over 40 Game of the Year awards globally, is now available worldwide on PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. The award-winning RPG is also available now on the PlayStation 5 (PS5) console, with enhanced support for the PlayStation 5 Pro. Heralded as "the best Final Fantasy of the century" by The Washington Post and recipient of over 110 perfect review scores, FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH comes to the PC platform with a variety of new features and customizations that deliver a new level of realism and immersion to the unknown journey including:

• Improved lighting across the entire game renders the adventure with even greater beauty and clarity.
• 4K resolution and 120 FPS are supported on top-spec PCs.
• Greater polygon and texture density can be achieved through optional settings. FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH has never looked better.
• With DualSense controller support, enjoy the same controls and immersive haptic feedback as on the PS5 console.
• NVIDIA DLSS allows for upscaled image quality and enhanced framerates.
• Variable refresh rate (VRR) enables smoother gameplay with compatible hardware.
• Full control rebinding, plus mouse and keyboard support. Freely customize controls between world exploration and combat or mini-games.
• FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH is Steam Deck Verified for an optimized handheld experience.

As we enter the second to last week of January, we have another week packed to the brim full of new releases. The major release of this week allows you to walk around in 2016 km² of a mediaeval fantasy world with five different regions for some MMORPG action. This is followed by some 4X Roman strategy, a trip to Norse mythology hell or pretending to be one of King Arthur's knights. This is followed by a remake of another JPRG from a famous franchise and we end the week with an anime inspired PvP shooter.

The Quinfall / This week's major release / Friday 24 January / Early Access
Embark on an adventurous journey to explore the Quinfall universe. Be a part of unique battles and an immersive story with dozens of different professions in the depths of medieval times in an all-new MMORPG experience. Explore the world's largest MMORPG map with an area of 2016 km². Shape your adventure in five regions with their own unique, distinct climates. Steam link

Today, Delta Force developer Team Jade revealed their plans for continuing content updates coming to the game in 2025, as well as gave an update on the release of the mobile version of Delta Force. Delta Force has a bold plan for bringing its players fresh new content in 2025, including five new operators, seven new maps, new gadgets, new vehicles and more. For a full breakdown, please check out the Delta Force 2025 roadmap.

Team Jade will be sharing more when these seasons are dropping in the game soon, in the meantime, please visit the game's official website for more information about Delta Force. Team Jade also provided an update on the release window for the much anticipated mobile version of the game. In a message to Delta Force Players by Game Director Shadow Guo, the team is committed to delivering the top tier experience that players deserve, and to do that means moving the release of the mobile version to the Summer of 2025.

Welcome to the middle of January and a busy week of new game releases. We kick off this week with some driving, on tracks though, as these cars might not be entirely road legal. If cars aren't your thing, then how about a city builder, but in the sky? If that doesn't tickle your fancy, how about a unique looking ARPG? This is followed by something of a PC clone of recent Zelda games, just without any defined goals. This brings us a futuristic side scroller where you fight demons. We round off the week with some Chinese hack and slash action back in the feudal era.

Assetto Corsa EVO / This week's major release / Thursday 16 January
As with its predecessor, Assetto Corsa EVO will include cars from different classes spanning across years of motoring history. From road cars, classics, hypercars, and race cars. The most iconic representation of the automotive and motorsport world. Each vehicle is reproduced through an advanced system that simulates mechanical, electronic, and aerodynamic performance, combined with the fidelity of the circuits created using Laserscan technology. Steam link

This GFN Thursday recaps the latest cloud announcements from the CES trade show, including GeForce RTX gaming expansion across popular devices such as Steam Deck, Apple Vision Pro spatial computers, Meta Quest 3 and 3S, and Pico mixed-reality devices. Gamers in India will also be able to access their PC gaming library at GeForce RTX 4080 quality with an Ultimate membership for the first time in the region. This follows expansion in Chile and Columbia with GeForce NOW Alliance partner Digevo. More AAA gaming is on the way, with highly anticipated titles DOOM: The Dark Ages and Avowed joining GeForce NOW's extensive library of over 2,100 supported titles when they launch on PC later this year. Plus, no GFN Thursday is complete without new games. Get ready for six new titles joining the cloud this week.

Head in the Clouds
CES 2025 is coming to a close, but GeForce NOW members still have lots to look forward to. Members will be able to play over 2,100 titles from the GeForce NOW cloud library at GeForce RTX quality on Valve's popular Steam Deck device with the launch of a native GeForce NOW app, coming later this year. Steam Deck gamers can gain access to all the same benefits as GeForce RTX 4080 GPU owners with a GeForce NOW Ultimate membership, including NVIDIA DLSS 3 technology for the highest frame rates and NVIDIA Reflex for ultra-low latency.

The term 'AI' has been used in games for decades. These non-playable characters (NPCs) traditionally follow strict rules designed to mimic intelligence, adhere to a guided story, and provide a scripted interaction with the player. However, with the rise of intelligent language models, game AI is primed for a truly intelligent overhaul. At CES 2025, NVIDIA is redefining game AI with the introduction of NVIDIA ACE autonomous game characters. First introduced in 2023, NVIDIA ACE is a suite of RTX-accelerated digital human technologies that bring game characters to life with generative AI. NVIDIA is now expanding ACE from conversational NPCs to autonomous game characters that use AI to perceive, plan, and act like human players. Powered by generative AI, ACE will enable living, dynamic game worlds with companions that comprehend and support player goals, and enemies that adapt dynamically to player tactics.

Enabling these autonomous characters are new ACE small language models (SLMs), capable of planning at human-like frequencies required for realistic decision making, and multi-modal SLMs for vision and audio that allow AI characters to hear audio cues and perceive their environment. NVIDIA is partnering with leading game developers to incorporate ACE autonomous game characters into their titles. Interact with human-like AI players and companions in PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, inZOI, and NARAKA: BLADEPOINT MOBILE PC VERSION. Fight against ever-learning AI-powered bosses that adapt to your playstyle in MIR5. And experience new gameplay mechanics made possible with AI-powered NPCs in AI People, Dead Meat, and ZooPunk.

Welcome to the first full week of the new year and the month of January. This week's major release involves building pointy buildings in the desert, just south of the Mediterranean. The rest of this week's new releases involves getting imprisoned by aliens, making steampunk chocolate, work as a robot assassin, purging the land and doing hard time in a futuristic version of Japan.

Builders of Egypt / This week's major release / Wednesday 8 January
In Builders of Egypt, you can explore the land of the pharaohs through the ages, from the Nile Delta to Nubia. Build cities, manage trade, economy, and resources, make strategic decisions, control armies and engage in battles, foster religious development, and ensure the well-being of your citizens. Play through a complete campaign or unleash your creativity in Sandbox mode. Steam link

Indie developers Alterego Games and The Naked Dev, have today announced the release of City of Springs - Craft & modify your robot drones to fight off a cruel regime in this steampunk adventure game.

City of Springs
You play as Val, a brilliant mechanic from the big slum district of the last city on earth. A cruel and strict regime controls every aspect of life in the city, and any transgression is taken out of your rations. The city is like a broken clock. Someone has to stand up to the ministries and fix it.

Every year, Valve holds The Steam Game Awards, a community-driven initiative to recognize the best games that were launched in that year. Valve has just released the results for the 2024 Steam Game Awards, which are determined by community vote—as opposed to events like The Game Awards, which feature a jury selection—and split into individual categories. This year, though, the overall winner for Game of the Year was Black Myth Wukong, which beat out other finalists: Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, Balatro, and Helldivers 2 for top spot. Game of the Year wasn't Wukong's only victory, either, with the game also taking home the "Outstanding Story-Rich Game Award," which seems logical given its overall victory, and the cleverly named "Best Game You Suck At Award," which is meant to highlight the best difficult game of the year. In this category, Black Myth Wukong was up against Dragon Ball Z Sparkling Zero, The Finals, Ghost of Tsushima, and Tekken 8, which is again a very diverse mix of games and genres, so it's somewhat interesting to see a narrative-driven game like Wukong come out ahead here.

The rest of the Steam Game Awards 2024 was less of a one-man show, with Metro Awakening VR taking Best VR Game of the Year, Elden Ring nabbing the Labor of Love Award, and God of War Ragnarök taking the Best Game on Steam Deck Award. Helldivers 2 won Better with Friends, while Silent Hill 2 took home the Outstanding Visual Style Award, Liar's Bar won Most Innovative Gameplay, Red Dead Redemption won Best Soundtrack Award, and Farming Simulator 25 was crowned with the Sit Back and Relax award, beating out the likes or Webfishing, House Flipper 2, and Tiny Glade. One of the more surprising "minor" awards winners here is God of War Ragnarök taking home Best Game on Steam Deck, since you often hear in discourse around the Steam Deck that it's not suitable for AAA gaming, and God of War is only two years old at the time of writing, meaning it is still very demanding, with an NVIDIA GTX 1060 6 GB quoted as the minimum recommended GPU to play the game.

A new security breach is trying to pump the brakes on Path Of Exile 2's overwhelmingly positive late 2024 launch, as a mysterious hack appears to be making the rounds in the new RPG, although the source of the vulnerability is yet to be identified. According to a growing number of posts on the Path of Exile 2 forum, subreddit, and even the game's Steam reviews, players are apparently logging into their PoE 2 accounts only to find that all their loot and gear they've now spent dozens or even hundreds of hours grinding for, has been removed from their accounts. The most alarming thing is that nobody seems to know how these hacks are happening. Some players say they changed their main email address and Steam login passwords days before they were hacked, and most seem to have no Steam 2FA requests, suggesting that there is either a security issue with the Path of Exile 2 game servers or there is some sort of session hijacking happening that is giving bad actors access to player accounts.

Until now, Grinding Gear Games, the developer behind Path of Exile 2, has not openly commented on the hacking incidents, with a single comment from the support team on the forum advising players to email support about it if they encounter such instances. According to the Steam review mentioning an account hacking incident, however, the player managed to track down the hacker on his own, subsequently contacted support and posted about it in the PoE 2 forum, and asked the moderator to assist in preventing the sale of the rest of his goods. This attempt was apparently enough to get the gamer's forum posts removed and put on probation. Meanwhile, the support request was met even more unkindly, with PoE 2 support going so far as to lock him out of his own account. He also isn't alone, with others in the Path of Exile 2 forum reporting that sharing the in-game name of their alleged hacker with support has led to their game account being locked.

In a couple of days, it'll be a new year, which will bring with it a wealth of new game releases, but before that, we have a couple of days left of this year and a few slow days or possibly weeks in the new year. This week's release includes knights with machineguns, bottle caps, also with guns, a futuristic cowboy, too many alien bugs and what appears to be a new take on the classic game RISK. See you in the new year.

Boomcestors / Monday 30 December / Early Access
Are you prepared to crush medieval armies, reduce their defensive structures to rubble, and dominate sprawling battlefields, all with cutting-edge modern warfare technology at your fingertips? Your squad is a lethal machine, armed with today's weapons. Customize your squad's size and composition, determine who will join your deadly ranks, and choose which weapons they'll wield. Steam link

NVIDIA has released a new hotfix driver version 566.45 WHQL, built upon the recent Game Ready Driver 566.36. This targeted update addresses specific issues affecting gaming performance and stability. The hotfix primarily focuses on resolving micro-stuttering issues reported by players in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, along with improving overall stability for Ubisoft titles running on the Snowdrop engine.

The previous driver release brought optimizations for S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chornobyl and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, including DLSS 3 support. It also expanded GeForce Experience optimal settings for several titles including Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Delta Force, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, and Red Dead Redemption. With this latest hotfix update, NVIDIA has managed to iron out stability issues. However, there are no words about the overlay feature that reportedly brought 15% performance reduction while using NVIDIA App. While we don't host hotfix drivers, you can grab it from NVIDIA here.

Happy holidays and welcome to the last full week of the year. This week will be rather lacklustre of new releases due to the time of the year, but it doesn't mean no games will be released. That said, this week there won't be a major release, as there is none. For what it's worth, this year's Christmas week releases are a lot better than last year's. We kick off the week with a turn-based strategy game with mechs, which is followed to a sequel to Into the Dark. On Christmas day, there's golf and on boxing day, there are dinosaurs and we end this holiday week with a retro horror game with a Sci-Fi element.

Fusionist / Monday 23 December / Early Access
Fusionist is a turn-based strategy game that offers depth and tactical gameplay. Players assemble a team of five mechs, each with unique skills and roles. By choosing different "Cores" and mech abilities, players can create their own unique "builds" to suit their playstyle, play in-game missions, or compete in intense PvP battles against other players. Steam link

Despite having a rather successful launch, Hi-Fi Rush was slated to be cancelled when Tango Gameworks, the studio behind the unorthodox rhythm game, was to be shut down by Microsoft in mid 2024. Shortly after that unfortunate turn of events, Tango was acquired by Krafton, the publisher behind PUBG, and Hi-Fi Rush was given a second wind. That acquisition also got fans hopeful for a sequel, and there were even rumors floating around that a sequel was in the works. Now, in a recent interview with IGN, a few Tango Gameworks and Hi-Fi Rush higher-ups—Hi-Fi Rush director, John Johanas, studio head and creative director, Colin Mack, and Hi-Fi Rush project manager, Kazuaki Egashira—confirmed that this is not necessarily the case.

While a sequel had been in development when Krafton acquired the studio, Mack says that they "are not yet at the stage where we can say specifically." That said, the studio is apparently strongly leaning towards a sequel. The justification for not yet committing to Hi-Fi Rush 2 is that the team has a fondness for the game, its characters, and its world, so they want to make a sequel that is respectful and cherishes the IP. The team also acknowledges that "it is important to try new things," and Johanas admits that Tango is considering multiple opportunities. Throughout the interview, there's an emphasis on keeping things fresh, with the team seemingly under the impression that revisiting Hi-Fi Rush in a sequel without changing it, it would become outdated. Whatever comes out of the Hi-Fi Rush universe, it's apparent that the developers working on it don't see a sequel as a cash cow. For fans of the game, there is at least hope, since Mack says that the studio hopes to hire around 50 new employees in January 2025, doubling its workforce and supposedly allowing for more freedom for creativity and experimentation.

2XKO is an upcoming team-based fighter game from League of Legends studio, Riot Games, and it looks to be getting a 2025 release. While 2XKO had an alpha playtest since August of this year, the development team recently hinted in a post on X that something is coming in March next year—potentially an expanded beta playtest or even the full launch of the game: "brb for a bit - locking in. you'll see what we've been up to in march, but we'll drop an update in february. in the meantime, support your locals."

The alpha version of the game Riot playtested in August was seemingly quite feature-complete, although a slew of changes is coming to the game based on that feedback, suggesting that what's to come in early 2025 is likely a wider playtest, rather than a full launch. Riot has previously confirmed that 2XKO will be launching sometime in 2025, but there is likely more testing necessary before the game is ready for prime time. That said, Riot Games is no stranger to short beta periods—League of Legends launched into open beta a mere week before its full launch. If 2XKO's previous development updates and the last playtest are anything to go by, the February update Riot teased will probably preview what to expect in the next playtest, with March either being the playtest itself or a showcase of an upcoming alpha or beta test.

The Xbox gaming handheld is reportedly in the early stages of development at Microsoft, but in the meantime, the PC giant is apparently working on unifying its gaming experience across the various platforms where its games are available. According to a Windows Central report, Microsoft is working on something called Project Rainway, which is "a set of in-game APIs and user interface features," that will take shape as a cross-platform Xbox user interface. This news comes after Microsoft's recent "This is an Xbox" ad campaign and some pretty notable changes to its Xbox Game Bar to make that more compatible with gaming handhelds. How this new API and UI will take shape is yet to be seen, but it will likely further blur the line between gaming consoles and PCs—something that the Valve Steam Deck has also done in the years since its launch.

This seems to align with Microsoft's current strategy around gaming, which has seen Microsoft Gaming head, Phil Spencer, confirm that the company is both working on its own gaming handheld and that, in the meantime, it is focussed on making the Xbox gaming experience as seamless and enjoyable as possible on current gaming hardware. Xbox is also seemingly moving away from console exclusives as a concept, as we reported earlier this month, and, according to Windows Central's sources at least, this is partly because Microsoft has noticed no measurable impact on Xbox performance as a result of moving Xbox exclusives over to other consoles.

Dauntless's recent Steam launch proved disastrous, thanks to some changes the developer made to the core gameplay, which we covered in more detail here. Phoenix Labs responded shortly after the controversy, but that original statement was largely seen as dismissive by the community. Now, Phoenix Labs has put out yet another response, this time responding to individual criticisms and laying out a detailed plan for the future of Dauntless.

In the response, Phoenix Labs starts off by apologizing to the community for the lost progression and disastrous Awakening update. Throughout the rest of the statement, the developer breaks down how it plans to address each of the criticisms, including the progression reset, monetization, and core gameplay changes. The most interesting take-away from Phoenix Labs's response is that the returning players will be rewarded with additional in-game resources—300,000 Rams and 5,000 Combat Merits as well as Peerless Aetherite, scaling based on how many weapons players had crafted before the update—to get them back up to speed in the new system. As of Update 2.2.0, dropping "early next year," players will also no longer have to re-do quests they had already previously completed in order to unlock all game modes and regions. Various challenges and monsters have also received reward drop buffs to speed up progression. Monetization changes include making the free battle pass for future seasons more rewarding, and Phoenix Labs also promised to re-evaluate the monetization strategy in future updates "to balance sustainability with fairness while remaining rewarding for players." As for core gameplay changes, Phoenix Labs has already implemented changes to armor perks, shield caps, and weapon buffs based on feedback, and it says that it will continue to find more ways to add diversity and depth to player builds in future updates.