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.

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.

The Borderlands 4 trailer recently hinted at some sweeping tone shifts for the upcoming looter shooter RPG, and Gearbox Studio's creative and narrative director for Borderlands 4, Sam Winkler, recently confirmed that the shift in tone will extend to the game's character writing and humor. In a series of posts on X, Winkler said "I remain firm in my criticism of BL3's overabundance of toiler humor," going on to explain that there will still be toilet humor, and the idea of a Hawk Tuah reference in-game was being thrown around. "Paul Tassi joked that we were gonna have a gun called Hawk 2A and a fellow dev asked me if it was real and I wanted to put my hand down the sink grinder."

While the Borderlands 4 trailer has generated plenty of hype around the upcoming instalment to the franchise, it hasn't gone without its criticisms. However, the apparent changes to the game's visuals and tone—specifically away from the over-the-top nature of Borderlands 3—have been almost universally positively received, with many fans now expecting a return to the glory days of Borderlands 2. Writing has never been the highlight of the Borderlands franchise, but most seem to agree that Borderlands 3 often went too far with the jokes, to the detriment of the overall experience.

As expected, a new trailer for Borderlands 4 officially launched at The Game Awards this week, and, although it has poured cold water on speculation of the return of Gaige, the DLC vault hunter from Borderlands 2, there are some intriguing details in the trailer. For starters, we got a look at what looks to be the next Borderlands villain—or maybe even villains—and it looks like the inter-faction conflicts will play a much larger role in Borderlands 4, with larger-scale conflicts at least being part of the lore, if not the actual gameplay.

The new Game Awards trailer picks up where the previous teaser trailer left off, as teased by Gearbox CEO, Randy Pitchford, but it turns out the robotic arm didn't belong to Gaige, the mechromancer, as previously suspected. Instead, the character picking up the mask at the start of the new trailer appears to be the cruel leader of some sort of robotic bandit militia preparing to do battle against an army of soldiers or drones, who bear some similarities to the Eridian from past Borderlands games and are being led by a single general, who also seems to be a main villain in the game—perhaps some invading force looking to exploit the planet. The resulting conflict between the two rival factions is on a larger scale than we've seen in previous Borderlands games, although there have always been inter-faction conflicts in Borderlands games. Of course, new enemies and factions aren't the only details included in the new Borderlands 4 trailer.

The call to go beyond the stars is here once again, and it's bigger, bolder, and more unpredictable than ever. We just revealed a first gameplay trailer for The Outer Worlds 2 during The Game Awards 2024, promising a fresh adventure in a brand-new colony next year. No really, we know we're not supposed to promise things in marketing, but the setting is completely new, so this is all factual. Just don't break the colony again. We're looking at each of you who sent the Hope into the sun in the last game.

In true Obsidian Entertainment fashion, you carve your path through Arcadia, a colony teeming with factions, intrigue, and chaos. It's also home of skip drive technology and where the fate of the entire colony - and the galaxy - rests. As a daring, undeniably good-looking, and questionably competent Earth Directorate agent, you're tasked with uncovering the source of devastating rifts threatening the entire galaxy. Talk about stakes (not to be confused with raptidon steaks, those are very different)! The choice of how to deal with the rifts is up to you. "Your worlds, your way," as we say at Obsidian.

Nearly five years after Dauntless first launched on consoles and the Epic Games Store, the free-to-play co-op ARPG finally launched on Steam on December 5, although things haven't gone particularly smoothly since then. Less than a week after the Steam launch, the Steam reviews of Dauntless are already in "Overwhelmingly Negative" territory, with SteamDB citing just 19.21% positive reviews. The negative reviews seem to stem from the changes the game's developer, Phoenix Labs, made to the game when it was launched on Steam.

As part of the new Awakening update and launch on Steam, changes were made to a few key gameplay mechanics, and those changes have not been well received by the community. Additionally, progression has been reset for all players, new and old, forcing players to replay quests they've already completed and re-level weapons they had already mastered. The Awakening update also introduced Canisters, a sort of loot box monetization system that offers in-game cosmetics and can only be accessed in the season pass or by purchasing Platinum, the game's premium currency. Basically all of the posts on the Dauntless subreddit after the update are complaints about the changes to the game's mechanics or about players feeling slighted over the deletion of past progression. Players are also upset that the removal of a swathe of weapons has negatively affected build diversity and made players feel like they wasted their time thoroughly learning the game's mechanics and tuning builds. The developer seemingly tried to mitigate the removal of these weapons by adding new abilities, but that doesn't seem to have been enough to compensate for the decreased build diversity. Yet more complaints stem from apparent performance degradations on both PS5 and Xbox Series consoles. Worse still, those same performance degradations appear to be quite random, with some players saying that their performance has remained the same throughout the update.

Welcome to week 50 and Lucia, alternatively Freddy week if that's something that's celebrated in your part of the world. This week's AAA title will bring back childhood memories for many of you, at least if you're old enough to remember Dr Jones. As for the rest of this coming week's new releases, we have a spoiled cat, some people trying to survive the apocalypse, a bunch of people playing with swords, a hungry elevator and some ruins in need of repair.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle / This week's AAA title / Monday 9 December
Uncover one of history's greatest mysteries in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, a first-person, single-player adventure set between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. The year is 1937, sinister forces are scouring the globe for the secret to an ancient power connected to the Great Circle, and only one person can stop them - Indiana Jones. You'll become the legendary archaeologist in this cinematic action-adventure game from MachineGames, the award-winning studio behind the recent Wolfenstein series, and executive produced by Hall of Fame game designer Todd Howard. Steam link

Welcome to the first week of December and the first of advent for those that celebrate it. This week's AAA release is the 2024 release of a FPS shooter that first saw life back in 1998, but under a new developer and publisher. If this isn't your cup of tea, then you can try your luck in beating humans, demolishing things, surviving a bullet hell, finding your lost memories or pretending to be a superhero.

Delta Force / This week's AAA title / Thursday 5 December
Delta Force is back! The iconic series returns as the definitive free-to-play modern team-based tactical shooter and featuring three distinct gameplay modes: large-scale PvP warfare, intense extraction shooter action, and a remake of the legendary Black Hawk Down campaign. Steam link

Welcome to the last week of the month of November, which is a weak week for new game releases. The biggest release this week combines steampunk with magic in a fantasy world. This is followed by some sin slaying, some neon coloured blood, a Japanese inspired shop, a scary enigma and finally some parkour in an unexpected environment.

New Arc Line / This week's major release / Tuesday 26 November / Early Access
Take a stand in the eternal conflict between Arcane Magic and Steampunk Revolution and tip the uneasy balance between sorcery, elves, dwarves and mysterious monsters on one side and steampunk gadgets, zeppelins, and tesla guns on the other in this single-player, party-based, story-rich RPG. Steam link

Assassin's Creed Shadows is seemingly not out of hot water with gamers just yet, although this time, the flak seems to have been mostly unwarranted. Earlier this week, rumors popped up on Reddit claiming to reveal the Assassin's Creed Shadows Animus Hub, which was supposedly the upcoming RPG's dedicated launcher, and a host of in-game season passes and rewards. The leak purports to detail the first free battle pass, which is referred to as "Eye in the Dark" and will consist of 20 reward tiers. Completing the battle pass allegedly rewards 9,050 Isu coins, which can be used to purchase various cosmetics in the form of character, weapon, and mount customization options. Somewhat comically, there appear to be in-game collaborations with the likes of VISA, Red Bull, Intel, BAPE Clothing and Sprecher, although how these will play out in the game is a mystery. This news made quite a stir when it was first announced, since Ubisoft was very clear when it confirmed the game's delay last month that there would be no season passes in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

As it turns out, though, the rumors were kicking up enough speculation about the return of paid subscriptions, battle passes, and season passes that Ubisoft took to its official Discord server to address the rumors directly. Although Ubisoft confirmed that the Animus Hub is a piece of software it has been working on, all the content and rewards offered in the Animus Hub will be free content. Ubisoft was, however, careful with its words, not denying the existence of season passes and battle passes, instead only commenting that those passes will not be paid. Additionally, Ubisoft confirmed that there will be additional in-game content available for free in the Animus Hub.

As we're moving closer to the middle of November, it appears we have yet another slower week of the new game releases, which kicks off with some tractor driving, not pulling. This is followed by a family friendly RPG, a detective saga, an arcade co-op isometric something, another remake of a Square Enix title and finally your chance to run your own industrial empire. There's also a new Tetris game with an accompanying documentary to celebrate 40 years of Tetris.

Farming Simulator 25 / This week's major release / Tuesday 12 November
Farming Simulator 25 invites you to join the rewarding farm life. Whether you build your legacy single-handedly or cooperatively in multiplayer - it's your farm, you decide! Build a farm along winding rivers and historic grain elevators in North America, surrounded by ponds in Central Europe, or in a lush East Asian landscape filled with rice paddies near a neon-lit port city. Grow crops, tend to animals, practice forestry, and manage an empire of business ventures with farm shops, productions, and constructions. Steam link

It looks like the single-platform exclusive era that has plagued the gaming industry since the 2010s is coming to an end. The writing has been on the wall for a while, with Square Enix already previously confirming that its games would be launching earlier on both PC and Xbox, but now, the game studio has confirmed that more of its titles will be launching to more platforms simultaneously. This comes after Ubisoft made a similar announcement regarding the launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows after a delay and a bit of controversy.

The news from Square Enix broke in an interview with Japanese outlet 4gamer.net, with Square Enix's Naoki Yoshida confirming that the strategy has proven beneficial in terms of attracting more players to the company's games, further explaining that PC is the largest audience for gaming. The game Yoshida was specifically addressing in the interview was the upcoming Fantasian Neo Dimension—an upcoming CRPG developed by Mistwalker Corporation and published by Square Enix, with a planned multi-platform launch on December 5, 2024—but Yoshida seems to imply that this new policy will apply to more games going forward. It appears that both the announcement by Square Enix and Ubisoft are driven by commercial motivations.

Welcome to the first full week of the month of November, which means colder and darker weather for the northern hemisphere, also known as a perfect time to play some games. This week things are a tad slower and this week's major release is a VR version of a famous franchise that takes place inside a metro system. This is followed by some touch typing, slugs made out of metal, roller coasters, loads of ants and finally some post-apocalyptic strategy. As always, this is just a small selection of what launches this coming week.

Metro Awakening / This week's major release / VR game / Thursday 7 November
Metro Awakening is a story-driven first person adventure built for VR that blends atmospheric exploration, stealth and combat in the most immersive Metro experience yet. Don your gas mask, brave the crippling radiation and venture into the depths of the Metro where threats haunt your every step. Steam link

As we enter the last week of October and the first few days of November, we have a crammed week of new games, as well as a bunch of old releases that have either been refreshed or released on PC for the first time. This week's AAA title is a single player RPG that appears to have something to do with an age of dragons. This is followed by a mystery on the moon, a strange life, cowboys, some martial arts, a trip through hell, mechanical animals and finally a sequel to Elona.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard / This week's first AAA release / Thursday 31 October
When a pair of corrupt ancient gods break free from centuries of darkness, the vibrant land of Thedas needs someone they can count on. Rise as Rook, Dragon Age's newest hero. Be who you want to be and play how you want to play as you fight back and lead your team of seven companions, each with their own rich story. Together you will become The Veilguard. Steam link

Capcom today gave gamers a sneak peek at Monster Hunter Wilds, the sequel to the wildly popular Monster Hunter Rise and Worlds, showing off some in-game footage and divulging details about the new ARPG. Monster Hunter Wilds is slated to launch on February 28, 2025, but eager gamers can try out the latest installment in the Monster Hunter franchise a whole three months early thanks to an open beta starting at the end of October. The open beta will be available to PS5, PC via Steam, and Xbox Series S/X, although the PS5 open beta will be available to PlayStation Plus subscribers from October 29, while everyone else will have to wait until November 1 at 3:00 AM (GMT) to participate. The open beta ends on November 4 at 2:59 AM (GMT).

The Monster Hunter Wilds showcase introduces players to another new playable area, called the Oilwell Basin, and a new base, called Azuz, the Everforge, and it looks like the new environment will be mostly in underground caves, shrouded in darkness and the occasional lava vein. Along with the new environment, of course, Wilds will also introduce new monsters, which complement their cavernous surroundings. The showcase also gave us some more information on some of the monsters we can expect to see in the Oilwell Basin, like the oil-silt-lurking Rompopolo, the highly mobile Ajarakan, and what appears to be the area's main monster, called the Black Flame, which will seemingly have a significant role to play in the game's story quest. Of course, the Oilwell Basin is only one new area in Monster Hunter Wilds, and previous promotional images from the new game have shown off plenty of wide-open spaces and grassy plains with rock outcroppings, meaning there will be a degree of diversity for players to explore in the game when it eventually launches.

Right on schedule, and as we reported earlier this month, Wayfinder has exited its long, tumultuous Steam Early Access period, and, almost immediately after the full release, the game saw a significant spike in player count—at least compared to its recent player count. Wayfinder released to the general public today, and since its full launch, it has gained at least 100 additional positive reviews. Meanwhile, the initial player count only spiked by around 2,000 concurrent players, and the game's all-time Steam review score barely budged from its overall mixed rating.

Wayfinder's 1.0 release seems to be off to a slow start, especially compared to its 24,000+ peak concurrent player count, which it achieved back when it was still slated to be a free-to-play online MMO released under Warframe developer Digital Extremes's publishing wing. Since then, however, Airship Syndicate has drastically changed the nature of Wayfinder, turning it into a co-op (or single-player) dungeon crawler ARPG that's loud and proud about being microtransaction-free. In the Wayfinder 1.0 update, Airship Syndicate also added a whole new area for players to explore and a new movement mechanic, which should dramatically increase the verticality of the game and the diversity of combat encounters.

Terahard Studios is excited to announce its latest title, Dunebound Tactics, a turn-based tactics roguelite RPG set in a wasteland overtaken by the bonedry desert sand. The Steam page launched today and is ready to welcome some wishlists! Lead your band of survivors on a hazardous trek across unforgiving sands in search of a new home. Battle ruthless factions, scavenge dwindling resources, and make life-or-death choices to keep your sand-faring ship on the move, even if it requires sacrificing your own crewmates!

"Personally, I'm a huge tactics fanatic. We built our very own tactics engine with RPG elements from the ground up for Dunebound Tactics! I'm excited both for the technical innovations as well as the freedom we gave our game designers to create an amazing experience. The art in this game is the best we've managed so far connecting all the little details to squeeze performance and quality." - Aris Tsevrenis, CEO of Terahard Studios

After recently announcing PS5 and PC cross-play, Airship Syndicate announced that its co-op, indie, ARPG dungeon crawler, Wayfinder, will officially exit early access on October 21. Along with the full version 1.0 release, Wayfinder will introduce both a new playable area, called The Crucible, and a new vertical traversal tool, called a Hookshot, specifically designed to explore the ruins of the ancient city. The announcement comes with gameplay footage (see on the PlayStation Blog) of the overgrown, gloomy mega-mech that was built by the ancients to fight a war but has since been reclaimed by nature. The new map adds an extra degree of verticality to the game, giving the developers an opportunity to expand the player experience and arsenal.

In addition to the new region and extended mobility options, Airship Syndicate is teaming up with Critical Role for a paid DLC that will add The Legend of Vox Machina characters to Wayfinder as playable characters. Although exact pricing of the DLC is unknown both the Critical Role DLC Supporter Pack and The Crucible will be available on October 21. After the update, players will still be able to play in both single-player and co-op modes, just like before.

With the fifth anniversary of Disco Elysium on the horizon, Longdue is proud to announce its formation as a new independent studio that has raised seed investment to create an RPG that will continue Disco Elysium's award-winning legacy and represent a bold new artistic endeavor that aims to trailblaze in the narrative-first cRPG space.

Longdue is already a dozen strong, including team members that worked on the original Disco Elysium and its unreleased sequel. The team is also drawing talent from across the industry, including veterans from Bungie, Rockstar, and Brave At Night.

After the drama and negative press surrounding the recent Assassin's Creed Shadows delay, fans of the franchise might be happy to hear that, after more than a year on other platforms, Assassin's Creed Mirage has finally received a PC release date. Additionally, Ubisoft guarantees that Assassin's Creed Mirage will be playable on the Steam Deck at launch, even though it won't ship with the "Playable" logo.

According to the announcement, Assassin's Creed Mirage will launch on Steam on October 17, 2024. When the game launches on Steam, it will feature 50 in-game achievements that will "range from completing missions or ranking up, to performing specific actions." Despite having Steam achievements and Steam Deck compatibility at launch, AC Mirage players will still have to install UbiConnect, Ubisoft's first-party game store and launcher—a move that's unlikely to sit well with many gamers.

Welcome to the first full week of October and another busy week of new game releases. This week's AAA release involves balls and dragons, but no need to worry, it's not an adult only game. This is followed by a co-op metroidvania game that actually appears to have a story, this week's remake which involves a ghost town on a hill, a shady parkour platformer, an old-school style JRPG, a turn-based RPG and finally a peaceful exploration game. Also out this week is the Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred DLC.

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero / This week's AAA release / Friday 11 October
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero takes the legendary gameplay of the Budokai Tenkaichi series and raises it to whole new levels. Become a super warrior and experience the earth-shaking, limit-breaking power of Dragon Ball battles! Engage in heart-pounding, high-speed 3D battles that stay true to the anime and video game series, with breathtaking visuals and authentic combat moves like beam clashes, rush attacks, movements too quick for the eyes to see, and planet-razing ultimate attacks. Steam link

Starfield's Shattered Space DLC launched on September 30, and it was meant to address many of the base game's major issues, with a more hand-crafted feel, more intimate encounters, and a more narrative-driven gameplay experience. Instead, Steam gamers and critics alike have lambasted the expansion online for boring and underwhelming, repetitive gameplay, calling it "more Starfield," essentially repeating the story of Starfield's initial launch. At the time of writing, the Shattered Space DLC has 1,601 reviews on Steam, with only just over 34% of those reviews rating the expansion positively—placing it squarely in the "Mostly Negative" category on Steam.

Likely the biggest disappointment when it comes to Shattered Space's poor reception is that the Starfield player base actually seemed quite optimistic about the expansion, thanks to previous gameplay and interviews about the intention behind the expansion. Critically, however, Starfield developer, Bethesda, deliberately didn't send out game keys to the press for review prior to the launch of the game, so there was no real way for players to know whether they would enjoy the $29.99 expansion before buying it.

Shyborg Games, an indie developer, is launching its first game—The Art Collector—on Steam on October 22nd. The game places you in the role of an artist tasked with taking over an art gallery to help your mentor. Customize your gallery and home, befriend local artists, help them gain exposure, and master the art of selling fine art in this narrative-driven, capital management, shopkeeper RPG.

Created by a team of two brothers whom I have personally known for most of my life, it is an awesome experience seeing their passion project, which took a monumental amount of effort, reach this point. With other close friends, family, and myself contributing through playtesting and offering feedback, the game has advanced at a remarkable pace. Considering all the effort that has gone into building this unique experience, I wanted to share it with our community. A demo is available on Steam now, with a launch price of $12.99. You can view the full trailer, history, and all the in-game features after the break!

Humble Bundle has just announced its monthly Humble Choice game bundle, a monthly selection of games that Humble Bundle members can download and keep forever for free. While the intention is obviously to tempt gamers to sign up for a recurring Humble Bundle membership, there's nothing stopping you from signing up for a month for $11.99 to claim the Humble Choice bundle and then cancelling the membership.

For October, there are eight new games joining the Humble Choice bundle, ranging from colorful, action-packed, third-person RPGs to indie simulation games, and meditative puzzle exploration games. The main attractions of the October Humble Choice bundle, though, have to be Remnant II, Persona 5 Strikers, Jusant, and Dome Keeper, which have each earned positive reviews both from critics and gamers alike.

Amazon Games recently launched the long-awaited free-to-play MMORPG, Throne and Liberty, in early access, and the game appears to have gone down quite well with the community. On Thursday, mere moments after the launch, Throne and Liberty already had a peak player count of 53,884—a figure it likely earned during its advanced access period in South East Asia and Korea, where it has been available since as early as December 2023.

Since then, Throne and Liberty has continued its success, rising to as many as 54,720 concurrent players on Saturday, September 28. While this only places it in third place for current top sellers on Steam, this player count is in spite of the free-to-play game's early access pass costing a minimum of $40 on Steam. Throne and Liberty has also garnered its significant following despite only 60% of its Steam user reviews being positive, making its success even more anomalous.