We're just a few weeks away from The Last of Us Part II Remastered arriving on PC on April 3, and we here at Naughty Dog wanted to make sure players were prepared for the journey ahead. Whether it's your first time experiencing Ellie and Abby's acclaimed stories, or you've previously played and are excited to jump in via a new format, we have plenty of quality-of-life features and even new content in store.

PC features detailed
The PC version of The Last of Us Part II Remastered brings with it all the improvements and new features added in the PlayStation 5 version released in 2024, such as the roguelike survival mode No Return, Guitar Free Play, and hours of developer commentary. And in partnership with our friends at Nixxes Software and Iron Galaxy, Part II Remastered has been brought to PC with plenty of PC-centric quality-of-life features that further bring the snow-covered mountains of Jackson, Wyoming, and the rainswept streets of Seattle, Washington to beautiful life.

Jason Blundell—a veteran producer (at Treyarch) of many entries in the highly popular Call of Duty (CoD) franchise—has confirmed the founding of a new video game development studio: Dark Outlaw Games. This fledgling outfit started operations under the umbrella of Sony Interactive Studios (SIE). In an interview conducted by Jeff Gerstmann—a well-liked video game journalist—Blundell disclosed a very fortunate (early days) situation: "it's such a privilege to be able to do it with Sony as a new first-party studio...Sony doesn't set up first-party studios all the time. To have that privilege is humbling, it's really nice. I'm really excited." Industry whispers previously pointed to the "circa late 2023/early 2024" formation of an unnamed first-person shooter specialist team at PlayStation Studios, comprised of Jason Blundell and other ex-members of Deviation Games. This older organization started off back in 2020, under Blundell and Dave Anthony's direction—by June 2021, SIE announced an exciting partnership with Deviation Games. This "second-party" collaboration pointed to a new intellectual property destined for launch on Sony's market leading PlayStation 5 home console.

In 2022, Blundell left Deviation under mysterious circumstances. The Los Angeles, California-based studio would eventually limp to a disappointing end in 2024; with no finalized product released. The eventual founding of Dark Outlaw Games is a point of curiosity, given Sony Corporation's widespread gutting of staff headcounts across first-party studios in early 2024. As revealed to Gerstmann during their bonus podcast episode appearance, the seasoned CoD vet outlined current project conditions: "staffing up (and) keeping it kind of 'low key' as the team develops its game...We're getting the team to jell, getting the ideas clicking—I'm a programmer at heart, so let's test those assumptions: Is it working? You're trying to escape velocity." The growing Dark Outlaw team has busied itself with an unannounced project. Blundell described a secretive approach—rushing in with a premature unveiling would not be appropriate at this point in time. He elaborated: "(Dark Outlaw Games) has worked away in the shadows for a while, and when we've got something to talk about, we'll step out into the light...But, you know the story for me is about the game, not about the studio...so the reason why we're not doing a fanfare or shout about it from the rooftops is like, let's get something, right?"

Last month, Shuhei Yoshida announced his retirement from Sony Interactive Entertainment. His career at the company started back in 1986, and by 1993 he became involved with the corporation's nascent PlayStation division. The Japanese industry veteran has gone on a press appearance blitz over the past couple of weeks; many headlines have been generated by his candid musings. Most recently, Sacred Symbols+ engaged in a conversation with Yoshida—their (paywalled) two-hour long podcast episode (#347) was made available to subscribers this week. The former PlayStation chief divulged that he pushed hard for the conversion of first-party titles from console origins to PC platforms, but his colleagues were reportedly reluctant to adopt this practice (at the time). Yoshida-san outlined the benefits: "releasing on PC does many things: it reaches a new audience who do not own consoles—especially in regions where consoles are not as popular. The idea is that those people may become fans of a particular franchise, and when a new game in that series comes out, they may be convinced to purchase a PlayStation." Sony started readjusting its exclusivity model a few years ago; greater ambitions were revealed in 2024.

He continued with this thought process: "it also adds additional income, because porting to PC is way cheaper than creating an original title...So, it's almost like printing money. And that helps us to invest in new titles now that the cost of games has increased." The ex-SIE boss believes that emerging markets are best served with releases on PC. Yoshida mentioned a huge (almost untapped) market—his ex-colleagues could do well, by targeting said region in the near future: "China is a huge PC game market...And China is a growing but very small console market. In order to reach the audience in countries like China then it's crucial to release on PC. So, I believe PC versions really reach a new audience." PC gamers have largely welcomed an improved flow of ported first-party titles, but Sony has absorbed feedback flak in early 2025; namely an underwhelming reception to Marvel's Spider-Man 2. In late January, Team Sony announced a revised PlayStation Network account policy; backpedalling from a system that featured strict sign-in requirements.

We're happy to share that Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is Steam Deck Verified! Experience two playable Spider-Men, traverse an expanded Marvel's New York and battle iconic Marvel Super Villains on your handheld device now! 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.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 PC—Patch 3 Release Notes
Patch 3 is available now for Marvel's Spider-Man 2 on PC! This week's update includes stability improvements and bug fixes based on player feedback. We've also implemented the latest version of the NVIDIA Streamline SDK and included dozens of small visual bug fixes related to various aspects such as reflections, ray-traced shadows and textures. We are actively working on more updates with additional bug fixes and performance optimizations. Thank you to everyone for playing Marvel's Spider-Man 2 on PC and for providing feedback to help us continue to improve the game!

Days Gone Remastered rides onto PlayStation 5 and PC April 25, 2025! A game nearest and dearest to our hearts, with our good partners at Climax Studios, we strived to make this the definitive way to play Days Gone for new and returning players. Step into the dirt flecked shoes of former outlaw biker Deacon St. John and feel his desperate struggle for survival in a brutal open world ravaged by feral creatures known as Freakers. We at Bend Studio are very excited to share our first look at Days Gone Remastered with our announcement trailer, giving you a sneak peek of brand-new content to play!

Built for the PS5
Days Gone Remastered is brought to new life by the PlayStation 5 console featuring improved graphical fidelity, increased foliage draw distance, improved shadow and lighting quality, Tempest 3D Audio, VRR support and more. Select your preferred playing experience between Quality mode for increased resolution or Performance mode for improved framerates. And with the added power of the PS5 Pro, Days Gone has truly never looked better on PlayStation!

State of Play is back tomorrow, February 12! Tune in live for news and updates on great games coming to PS5. The show celebrates a creative and unique selection of exciting games from studios around the world. The 40+ minute show begins February 12 at 2pm PT / 5pm ET | 11pm CET / February 13 at 7am JST on YouTube and Twitch, and will be broadcast in English and Japanese. See you tomorrow!

Regarding co-streaming and video-on-demand (VOD)
Please note that this broadcast may include copyrighted content (e.g. licensed music) that PlayStation does not control. We welcome and celebrate our amazing co-streamers and creators, but licensing agreements outside our control could interfere with co-streams or VOD archives of this broadcast. If you're planning to save this broadcast as a VOD to create recap videos, or to repost clips or segments from the show, we advise omitting any copyrighted music.

A former chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment USA—Shawn Layden—has shared his views regarding current and future PlayStation product landscapes. In an interview conducted by podcaster Reece Reilly (of KIWI TALKZ), the American businessman was asked about Microsoft's recent-ish release of all-digital Xbox home consoles. Layden believes that Sony will not copy its main rival's homework—the heavily rumored "PlayStation 6" could launch in two forms: with an optical drive, or without. The ex-SIE boss commented about a potential disc-less future platform: "I don't think Sony can get away with it now...I think Xbox has had more success in pursuing that strategy, but Xbox is really most successful in their business in a clutch of countries: the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. Coincidentally enough—all English-speaking countries."

The current day PlayStation 5 family—consisting of standard, slim, and Pro models—is this generation's market leader; having established a huge international userbase (roughly 65 million units, back in September 2024). Layden cites these numbers as a guideline for the makeup of a new-gen model: "Sony, which is the number one platform in probably 170 countries around the world, has an obligation or a responsibility to say: 'If we go discless, how much of my market is not able to make that jump?' Can users in rural Italy get a decent connection to enjoy games?" He thinks that his former colleagues are making very careful considerations, given the complicated nature of catering to a diverse audience: "which part of your market will be damaged by going to disc-less market? I'm sure they're doing their research on it. And there will be a tipping point, where there's some percentage where you can say, 'Okay that's fine, we can turn our back on that part of the market.' But Sony's market is globally so huge, I think it would be hard for them to go fully disc-less, even with the next generation."

Starting with tomorrow's release of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 for PC, we're working to add more benefits to playing with an account for PlayStation Network. The Last of Us Part II Remastered (coming April 3, 2025), in addition to God of War Ragnarök and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, will all soon be adding in-game content unlocks for PlayStation Network account users.

An account for PlayStation Network will become optional for these titles on PC. Players who still opt to sign into a PlayStation Network account will also enjoy added benefits like trophies and friend management. Details on new benefits for players who opt to sign in with an account for PlayStation Network can be read below.

The Last of Us Part I (PC version) was updated to version 1.1.4 last Friday—at the time, patch notes revealed that Iron Galaxy Studios/Nixxes Software had added support for AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 3.1 Super Resolution and FSR 3.1 Frame Generation. Several popular first-party PlayStation titles received similar updates mid-way through last year, so industry watchdogs have questioned the timing of this latest upgrade—up until late last week, The Last of Us Part I was ticking along with support for FSR 3.0 (super resolution and frame generation).

Naturally, Team Red is in the process of preparing FSR 4.0 for an upcoming product launch—now delayed, due to the engineering team requiring: "extra time to optimize the software stack for maximum performance and enable more titles." AMD's latest graphics technology was showcased at CES earlier this month, alongside their new (RDNA 4) Radeon RX 9070 XT and 9070 (non-XT) graphics cards. According to Team Red, it is relatively easy to go from version 3.1 up to 4.0. The Last of Us Part I's development team (for PC platforms) could have everything ready to go in a couple of weeks, and be prepared well in advance for the game's sequel (due in April).

Before we get into offering our perspectives about Ted Price's long-planned and extremely well-deserved retirement, we want to sincerely thank everyone who has checked in with Insomniac about the state of our employees and Burbank studio during the terrible Los Angeles-area fires. The fires have devastated the communities around us. We continue to focus on supporting each other and communicating daily with Sony Interactive Entertainment to provide the latest information and resources to everyone affected.

Sharing the news that Ted is retiring from Insomniac Games is still just as emotional to type as it has been to think about. The three of us—Chad, Jen and Ryan—have worked closely with Ted for many years. He's not just our leader, he's our longtime friend. And a great one at that. Ted will be missed for so many reasons. One of the great things about Ted is his ability to inspire everyone around him to grow. Ted has also set the ultimate example of how to not just say the right thing, but to do it too. Both with our games and how we behave as leaders and as a studio.

An industry mole—familiar with internal NCSOFT activities—believes that three game development projects have been cancelled: Pantera, H, and J. Past speculation has pointed to "Project H" being an announced Horizon MMO title—based on evidence that emerged shortly after the announced formation of a "strategic global business partnership" between Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) and NCSOFT (back in 2023). Reportedly, Jim Ryan—the now former CEO and chairman of SIE—spearheaded PlayStation's concerted push into multi-faceted "live service" development cycles. Industry oracle, Jason Schreier, questioned the prioritization of "games as a service"—his late 2023 predictions seem very prescient, when looking at the present day landscape.

Last week, reports suggested two unannounced Sony-owned live-service games being placed on the proverbial chopping board. Bluepoint's much rumored "God of War" project was quietly canned according to Schreier's Bloomberg column, as well as a mysterious Bend Studios-produced title. NCSOFT's Project H—also known as "Skyline"—appears to be the victim of an internal "feasibility review." Target platforms were reported to be PC and mobile—therefore placing Project H/Skyline in a separate tranche; distinct from another online-oriented Horizon game. Franchise originator—Guerrilla Games—is reportedly still toiling away (with Bungie's guidance) on an upcoming multiplayer-focused release for PlayStation 5 home consoles.

The Decima Engine has not been widely utilized outside of Guerrilla Games-developed titles—their Horizon series has mostly showcased this (Sony Interactive Entertainment-owned) proprietary technology. Kojima Productions (Death Stranding 1 & 2) and Supermassive Games (Until Dawn) are notable development houses that have licensed Guerrilla's very capable engine—naturally, both outfits are very invested in the PlayStation eco-sphere. Twisted Voxel has combed through Guerrilla staff profiles on LinkedIn and a certain job description caught their investigative eye. The online publication's reportage focused on a senior producer's role of: "managing communication and relations with other PlayStation Studios interested in or using the Decima engine."

Industry insiders believe that Guerrilla Games is deeply involved in overseeing development at other first-party PlayStation development studios—the Netherlands-based outfit is well-versed in creating epic open world adventures, and this expertise is a hot commodity given current market trends. It is not very surprising to hear about the possible sharing of proprietary engine tech between internal PlayStation teams—Decima would be an ideal candidate for other open world PlayStation projects. Twisted Voxel mentioned Bend Studio—this developer is located in Oregon, USA—best known for producing Days Gone (2019). A former senior game designer's LinkedIn profile lists experience of using the Decima toolset. Bend Studio's unannounced "open world" title is apparently due for launch this year.

Hey everyone, today's update for Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition on PC includes crash fixes, various bug fixes, and improvements based on player feedback. Since the launch of the game last week, we've been closely monitoring our crash reporting system and investigating crashes submitted through our support channel. This patch includes several crash fixes and changes to further improve stability.

We've also fixed several bugs, including one that prevented players from claiming rewards at the Hunting Grounds when using mouse and keyboard controls. This patch also fixes the HDR Max Luminance slider and enables DLSS 3 Frame Generation during cutscenes. Check out the release notes below for more details. The teams at Nixxes and Guerrilla continue to closely monitor player feedback. We are aware of other issues raised by the community and are actively working on future patches with further bug fixes and optimizations.

Hi everyone, we're thrilled for our PC community to join Aloy on her journey as she braves the Forbidden West—a majestic but dangerous frontier that conceals mysterious new threats. That's right, Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition has launched on PC. Horizon Forbidden West continues six months after the events of the critically acclaimed Horizon Zero Dawn. Vicious superstorms rage. The land is dying. Machine hunter Aloy has traveled west to investigate the source of a mysterious blight that ravages the remnants of humanity. In these uncharted lands, she will meet strange new tribes and face ever more deadly colossal machines. Together with old friends and new companions, she must brave this awe-inspiring frontier to find the answers she needs, halt the biosphere's imminent collapse, and save life on Earth.

Unlocked frame rates, ultra-wide support up to 48:9 resolutions and performance-enhancing technologies including NVIDIA DLSS 3 AI-powered upscaling and frame generation allow PC players to experience Aloy's journey in its full glory on compatible hardware. NVIDIA DLAA is available to help maximize image quality. The game also comes with NVIDIA Reflex, reducing system latency and improving gameplay responsiveness. Intel XeSS and AMD FSR 2.2 upscaling is also supported. The team at Nixxes is working on an update to add AMD FSR 3 with frame generation.

The International Data Corporation (IDC) has been tracking sales of Sony's PlayStation VR2 virtual reality headset since launch time (February 2023)—a new report claims that a backlog of unsold units has accumulated. Bloomberg's analysis of IDC data reveals that PS VR2 sales have consistently declined each quarter, despite promising early numbers—the publication alleges that Sony Group Corporation has paused production of its ($550 MSRP) PS VR2 headset: "until it clears a backlog of unsold units, according to people familiar with its plans, adding to doubts about the appeal of virtual reality gadgets." Anonymous industry moles reckon that manufacturing facilities have pumped out over two million examples since launch time. Sony is unlikely to admit, publicly, that it is having a tough time shifting its second generation virtual reality headset—Bloomberg's network of insiders believe that "stocks of the device are building up."

The lack of AAA content, developed exclusively for the PS VR2's ecosystem, is cited as big stumbling block—Bloomberg (alongside numerous publications) reckons that sales have suffered due to an absence of system-selling titles. Horizon: Call of the Mountain (2023) was an impactful launch title, but the headset's software portfolio contains a lot of "novelty" items, casual experiences and glorified tech demos (according to community feedback). Late last month, Sony admitted that it was exploring options beyond the VR2's normal mode of operation (PS5 acting as host): "We're pleased to share that we are currently testing the ability for PS VR2 players to access additional games on PC to offer even more game variety in addition to the PS VR2 titles available through PS5. We hope to make this support available in 2024, so stay tuned for more updates." This surprising announcement arrived mere days before the firing of (around) 900 PlayStation employees. Company leadership revealed that Firesprite's headcount would be reduced. This VR-oriented studio collaborated with Guerrilla Games on the development of Horizon: Call of the Mountain. Sony's London Studio will be closed down—its team had previously worked on PlayStation VR Worlds (2016) and Blood & Truth (2019)—compatible with Sony's first generation headset.

Naughty Dog's remaster of "The Last of Us Part II" released on January 16 of this year—the PlayStation 4-era survival horror classic was spruced up and released exclusively on Sony's current-generation console. Segments of the gaming community have continued to question the company's PS5/PS4-to-PC porting policy—timing remains the key sticking point here. PC platform enthusiasts have often waited around two to three years for expirations of PlayStation exclusivity. Sony leadership has absorbed some of this feedback—a small wave of PC ports have emerged in recent times, following a series of insider leaks. Crucially, Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition's PC version is due to launch on March 21, followed by Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut—almost two months later.

Iron Galaxy ported "The Last of Us Part 1" to PC platforms—their collaboration—with Naughty Dog—launched last March. Naturally, discussions immediately focused on the sequel's speculated release date—one year later, a "reliable" tipster has thrown in their two cents. Silknigth's recent track record includes the outing of Sucker Punch's Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut PC port. The leaker stated: "Sony's upcoming PC game is The Last Of Us Part 2 Remastered. Its announcement is expected next month, although the exact date is unknown. There will be a longer-than-usual period between the announcement date and the release day." Reports suggest that Sony could unveil another batch of PC ports in the near future—these titles include: God of War Ragnarok, Gran Turismo 7 and Demon's Souls.

Helldivers 2 has exploded onto the gaming scene in a massive way. This co-operative third-person shooter packed with danger, action, humor, and surprises has already become one of this year's most talked-about games. What some people may be less familiar with though is its progenitor. The original Helldivers, which debuted in 2015 (and is still active) is a co-op, multiplayer overhead twin-stick shooter packed with action, intensity, and plenty of challenging situations that a player might find themselves in.

We asked Johan Pilestedt, CEO & Creative Director at Arrowhead Studios about the process of adapting the original overhead-view gameplay of Helldivers into the third-person format-after first congratulating him for the rip-roaring success of the game. We asked how the team felt about the positive reception. "Overwhelmed and ecstatic! Over the last 15 years, we've seen a keen interest in the types of games we make and it was great to see our work recognized at this scale."

Helldivers, get the Cutting Edge advantage on the battlefield! Greetings, fearless heroes of galactic democracy! Steel yourself for the next big push against the disgraceful enemies of freedom with our brand-new Warbond—Cutting Edge! Packed with high-voltage vibes, Cutting Edge gives you the chance to enhance your loadout of liberty with ultra-futuristic armour, guns that spit lightning, super stylish capes and epic emotes.

Super Earth R&D Experiments
Helldivers… we need your help. The brainiacs in Super Earth Research & Development have some cool experimental armour ready to be field-tested. This is where you come in, you're just the right people for the job.

We recently released a patch containing our first round of balance changes to Helldivers 2 and our Head of Product Testing has some valuable insight into our philosophies and practices when it comes to balancing. Hello everyone! My name is Patrik Lasota, I was the designer on the first Helldivers and am currently Head of Product Testing at Arrowhead. A bit of a grandiose title, but what it means in this context is that I'm responsible for how Arrowhead listens to feedback and balances its games. I'd like to talk about the changes we made in this patch and why.

Primary weapons
First I'd like to speak to the general power of primary weapons. Many have commented that they aren't powerful enough and are unable to deal with all the enemies either by the amount of ammunition required or their raw DPS. This is very much intentional, you need to rely on your Stratagems, and the Stratagems of your team to deal with all the enemies effectively. Either by Eagle Airstrikes, Orbitals, Support Weapons, or Turrets, some of your loadout/team should be tailoring their loadout to killing the weaker stuff more efficiently. This doesn't mean that your primary weapon shouldn't feel good to use, but please understand that it is primary only in the sense that it's something you always spawn with.

PlayStation Studios put out the system requirements lists for the upcoming PC version of "Horizon: Forbidden West," the second chapter in the popular post-civilizational action RPG franchise that debuted with "Horizon: Zero Dawn." The game had originally released as PlayStation 5-exclusive in 2022, with the Windows PC version slated for March 21, 2024. The game is a continuation of the fascinating story of "Horizon," set in the distant future, after an apocalyptic event that caused a swarm of robots that consume matter for sustenance, to nearly wipe out humanity.

Looking at the system requirements lists, it doesn't look like developer Guerilla Inc, leading the PC port, is interested in PC-specific technologies, although the original content is pretty resource heavy from the PlayStation gameplay to begin with; and even with the game assets adapted to PC, one can expect the game to be fairly taxing on the PC. To max out the game, or experience it at 4K @ 60 FPS, its developers call for a graphics card with performance in the league of GeForce RTX 4080 or Radeon RX 7900 XT, with 16 GB of memory, and at least an Intel Core i7-11700 or AMD Ryzen 7 5700X 8-core/16-thread processor.

Jim Ryan—President & CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment—revealed a sobering restructuring plan earlier today: "The PlayStation community means everything to us, so I felt it was important to update you on a difficult day at our company. We have made the extremely hard decision to announce our plan to commence a reduction of our overall headcount globally by about 8% or about 900 people, subject to local law and consultation processes. Employees across the globe, including our studios, are impacted." Ryan's full email—addressed to the entire Sony Interactive Entertainment workforce—can be found here. It reveals that company leadership has decided to close its PlayStation London Studio—the South East UK team is/was reportedly working on an announced "PS5 online game." Microsoft revealed a larger scale layoff program late last month—affecting 1900 employees—albeit without shuttering any major development studios. A number of its California-based teams are in the process of ditching "traditional" office locations (including a former aircraft hangar), and are moving to a work from home (WFH) model.

The SIE chief believes that current circumstances are not sustainable: "These are incredibly talented people who have been part of our success, and we are very grateful for their contributions. However, the industry has changed immensely, and we need to future ready ourselves to set the business up for what lies ahead. We need to deliver on expectations from developers and gamers and continue to propel future technology in gaming, so we took a step back to ensure we are set up to continue bringing the best gaming experiences to the community." His email outlines an "impact for employees across all SIE regions—Americas, EMEA, Japan, and APAC," with reductions affecting native development teams and Firesprite, a Liverpool, UK-based studio (founded by former Psygnosis veterans). Hermen Hulst, Head of PlayStation Studios, also posted a blog entry on the subject of SIE global layoffs—he confirmed a number of reductions and project cancellations.

The PC version of Helldivers 2 has shot up the Steam charts since yesterday's launch (also available on PlayStation 5)—according to tracking sites, peak player population sits at 151,927. Games industry watchdogs believe that this is Sony PlayStation's most successful launch title on PC platforms—24-hour peak telemetry has Helldivers 2 attracting 81,840 players versus God of War's 68,000 (January 14, 2022). An abundance of technical issues has prompted the submission of negative feedback—around 12,200 reviews have been left on the game's Steam Profile. Its current status is "Mostly Positive," but launch evening impressions were "Mixed" following 5300 review submissions. Eurogamer has summarized the problematic period: "Chief among criticisms are complaints about persistent crashes, while others have singled out server and matchmaking issues. Then there's ire directed towards PC optimization, and its kernel-level GameGuard anti-cheat software, which some feel is cause for concern, as well as complaints around Helldivers 2's monetization—which includes a battle pass and premium currency in-game shop, despite its £34.99/$39.99 price tag."

The development team at Arrowhead Game Studios implemented day-of-launch matchmaking fixes and addressed the most common crash problems. Helldivers 2 Game Director, Mikael Eriksson, stated that a patch was in the making: "If it's a success, we'll trigger a hotfix and get it out to the Steam community first, then roll it out to PS5 players as quickly as we can. Thank you—seriously—for your patience. We really want you all to have a blast playing this game. Bear with us, we're almost there." Arrowhead have followed up on their promise(s) today with another set of fixes pushed out to PC gamer population—Eriksson shared some good second day news: "We've uploaded a patch to Steam that should improve matchmaking for PC. The patch also includes some other crash fixes we've identified. We know there's more to solve, and we're working our way through it. Nevertheless, we hope this rapid patch goes a long way to making your experience better. Now go smash some bugs (and bots)!"

The Helldivers universe is one of noble soldiers, heroic deeds, and heartfelt, unflinching patriotism in the face of giant acid-spewing bug monsters. Stephen Flowers, Game Writer, Arrowhead Game Studios: "I personally love writing for a game with opportunities for comedy, and that doesn't take itself too seriously. I hope I can find a game like that soon…" If you want to catch up with the story of Super Earth and her valiant defenders before Helldivers 2 launches tomorrow (on February 8), read on. Plus, we share the first news that the story will continue in post-launch Helldivers 2 updates.

Since Helldivers 1…
Helldivers 2 takes place a century after the events of the first game, with Super Earth having emerged victorious against its adversaries - the deadly, bug-like Terminids, the grotesque Cyborgs and the inscrutable Illuminates. With its foes vanquished and the Galactic War won, an era of peace and prosperity ensued. The Helldivers, Super Earth's elite task force, were dismissed. The same faster-than-light travel technology, heroically liberated from the Illuminates, that gave Super Earth access to the galaxy, has since been used to colonize it. This period has come to be known as The Great Democratization. FTL technology is reliant on a steady supply of the precious substance E-710 which, luckily, can be found in decomposing Terminid bodies. So naturally, Super Earth has been farming Terminids on an industrial scale.

On February 8 Arrowhead Game Studios invites you to customize your Helldiver, drop into hell, wipe out infestations, and repeat the victorious process. Have you ever watched the anonymous soldiers of a sci-fi movie get obliterated by aliens and thought to yourself, "I could do better"? Helldivers 2 is Arrowhead Game Studios' invitation to brave players dying to experience the chaotic fun of facing seemingly impossible odds. For the uninitiated, Helldivers 2 is a full sequel that maintains the 4-player cooperative essence of the 2015 top-down PS4 entry, while adding modern over-the-shoulder third-person gunplay and deeper customization options. I recently had a chance to suit up and drop into a hands-on session with Helldivers 2 on PS5, and lived to share this debriefing. I teamed up with three other Helldivers to learn the ropes and emerged with a whetted appetite for eliminating space bugs and murderous Automatons. Let's dive in.

Action sci-fi gunplay
Helldivers 2 is bursting with customization options and strategic depth, but shooting lots of enemies is your bread and butter. Arrowhead managed to translate the frenetic top-down energy of Helldivers into a smooth third-person shooter. Weapon recoil feels powerful yet predictable enough to maintain your accuracy. I specifically loved watching Automaton's armor dent and shatter off as I punched them full of sniper rounds. Players have options when it comes to gunplay. Hold the Square button to switch between single, burst, and autofire. Press L2 to shoulder your weapon and zoom in with R2. Click R3 button to aim-down-sights for even deeper precision and immersion. The direction buttons are used for quick actions, like switching to grenades by pressing right or pressing for a life-restoring stim. Remember to save a few 'nades to close up bug nests or destroy enemy factories. The moment-to-moment action is tight and reliable, which is key when all hell inevitably breaks loose.

Until Dawn has remained a core, genre-defining horror experience for players since its release almost a decade ago. We are now taking these amazing foundations and adding more emotional depth, an enhanced look, and a completely new soundscape that a game with such a strong legacy deserves. Rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5, Until Dawn has seen enhancements across the board, all made with passion and care for the original from the team of horror lovers, film fanatics, and veteran game makers at Ballistic Moon; and it's coming to PS5 and PC this year! Until Dawn has been rebuilt with the latest tools and techniques. New and improved animations build on the success of the original character performances. Characters, environments and VFX have been upgraded - all for a truly enhanced cinematic horror experience.

We use a broader cinematic tonal colour palette and new perspectives to make the story more nuanced and emotional. We've been brave enough to shine a light into the dark, unseen corners of Blackwood Mountain and added a third-person camera, which means you can now look behind the curtain of the original game, exploring enhanced and new locations with new interactions and collectables. Incorporating a third-person camera and adding contextual character movement animations, the game now allows the player to really feel the experience of that fateful night. Until Dawn's sound has undergone a massive overhaul too, featuring a new score from legendary horror composer Mark Korven. We've endeavored to keep the fantastic narrative integratory of the original, but we have seized the opportunity to expand upon unexplored emotional parts of the story.