The momentum around Deadzone's Early Access release has been amazing! Since this week's launch, over 30,000 players have jumped in, and the feedback has been super helpful. Thanks everybody! The most-requested feature so far is offline single-player mode, so we're making it a top priority. You'll be able to play Deadzone Rogue offline in single-player mode ASAP—we're aiming to have a patch out and live as quickly as possible.

We're also sorry if it wasn't clear that an online connection was required. We've updated our Steam page "System Requirements" with this info for now. Note: co-op mode will still require online play, so everyone can share the same game experience in real time. Thanks again for your support, it's been so exciting to see so many players enjoying Deadzone! In the meantime, keep the bug reports and feedback coming through Steam reviews, or Discord—in our #feedback channel. Let's make this the best game possible!

May brings more than just rainbows and sunshine—it's also time for fresh adventures and epic battles. This GFN Thursday spotlights twenty can't-miss games joining the cloud this month, with something for every kind of gamer. Gear up with the nine games available this week, on top of the launch of Rust's Jungle Biome update.

Welcome to the Jungle
In Rust, a multiplayer survival game by Facepunch Studios, everyone starts off with only a rock and torch and must gather resources, build bases and fend off environmental threats and other players in a harsh, open-world setting. The game features intense player vs. player combat, dynamic alliances and frequent updates. Crocodiles, snakes and tigers—oh my! The latest update introduces a new jungle biome: a lush but dangerous environment filled with crocodiles, snakes, tigers and other wildlife. Added features include new early-game weapons, like a blowpipe with venom darts, as well as unique mechanics, like regrowing jungle vines. GeForce NOW members can experience the intense survival gameplay of Rust from the cloud. Whether on an underpowered PC, Mac, smartphone or smart TV, dive into the game's open-world chaos with smooth performance and stunning visuals.

As part of the 30th anniversary celebration for Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. is collaborating to bring "Operation Meteor" to Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.'s cross-platform and free-to-play team-based action game Overwatch 2. The iconic Mobile Suits—Wing Gundam Zero (Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz), Gundam Epyon (Mobile Suit Gundam Wing), Gundam Deathscythe Hell (Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz) and Tallgeese (Mobile Suit Gundam Wing)—come to life as Legendary skins for Mercy, Ramattra, Reaper, and Soldier: 76, respectively. The renowned art team at Blizzard Entertainment worked closely with Bandai Namco Entertainment to ensure the perfect blend of Mobile Suits from Gundam Wing meshed with Overwatch 2 heroes. These new Legendary skins are now available to purchase in-game on every platform Overwatch 2 is available on: Windows PC via Battle.net, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch consoles.

An optimistic vision of near-future Earth, Overwatch 2 is about a world worth fighting for, where super soldiers, scientists, cyborgs, and omnics clash for control of real-world-inspired locations from around the globe. Overwatch 2's 43 unique heroes—each armed with potent abilities and weaponry—battle across a variety of lively maps and locales, where players must work together and adapt to a variety of unique situations.

Hey everyone! Here we are announcing Mycopunk. It's a game. There's a lot of cool stuff in it. We could tell you all about it, but that's a lot of work. So you should stop reading and go play the DEMO. In case you've decided to keep reading (why??) let's take a look at some of the things in Mycopunk that we're most excited about. Mycopunk was born from our desire for a fun (FUN) co-op FPS that makes players want to keep coming back without any of that FOMO shit. This mostly manifested in three ways: shooting stuff is fun, progression is interesting, and [REDACTED].

Weapons
If you've played the demo you'll know your weapons feel good to shoot and carving up enemies is fun. If you disagree, come tell us to our face in the Mycopunk discord. Most of us don't bite. Some weapons are what you'd expect. The SMG is an SMG. It shoots bullets. But from the beginning we wanted to have some really weird, cool ass weapons. One of our favorites is the Swarm Launcher—it launches a swarm (no way) of pellets that hover above the ground and will dive down on enemies when you release the trigger. Some of the Swarm Launcher's upgrades let it do some really cool stuff, but we'll get to that later. We have four guns for you to play around with in this demo, and on release you'll have many more. Those guns are SECRET. For now…

La Quimera—a sci-fi first-person shooter—was revealed two months ago. At the time, introductory press material placed emphasis on the title's development team being staffed by Metro series veterans. Days later, 4A Games stepped in and provided much-needed clarification about this confusing announcement. Fast-forward to the end of last week; Reburn—formerly 4A Games Ukraine—did not launch their debut title on time. An April 25 (Friday) release date was announced earlier in the month, as well as the start of a closed beta program (April 12). Review outlets did receive evaluation copies, prior to last Friday's intended launch—early impressions were mixed, and significant performance issues were noted on cutting-edge PC platforms. Aditionally, according to PC Gamer: "(Reburn's) closed beta planned for April 12 was delayed until April 19—less than a week before the scheduled launch—and then, according to multiple users on Steam, ran for less than 24 hours before being taken down. The reaction to the beta among those who were able to get in was also not universally positive."

Currently, La Quimera's release status on Steam is listed as "coming soon." Reburn will issue more details about adjusted plans in the near future. Dmytro Lymar—the studio's CEO and co-founder—provided a short explanation via an official Discord channel. He mentioned that the team ran into "some unforeseen challenges"—going into further detail: "we'd like to apologize for the unexpected delay in getting La Quimera out to you, our fans and supporters...Our team here at Reburn has been working hard on the game, and it being our first title as an independent game developer has led to some unforeseen challenges. We are trying our best to address the matters as quickly as possible, while also navigating the circumstances we're faced with here; in the Ukraine." PC Gamer reckons that La Quimera's gestation period could be extended until late 2025.

Hello from id Software! This is Hugo Martin, game director on Doom: The Dark Ages, releasing May 15 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC—it's right around the corner, I can't believe it. If you've been following along, you already know that Doom: The Dark Ages is a premium single-player campaign featuring three core pillars of engagement: story, combat, and exploration. I'm guessing you're reading this because you want to hear something new, something about the game no one else has heard about. Well, I've got a good one for you.

We think Doom: The Dark Ages is the best Doom game we've ever made (but that'll be for you to decide). We gave this everything we had, left no feature unpolished: we have 22 levels of incredible FPS single-player combat; tons of gameplay innovations like the Shield Saw, flail, and new crazy guns; and an awesome roller coaster ride of an action story to carry you through to the finish. AND—we have huge worlds for you to explore.

Last month, we released Atomfall, and it quickly became our most successful launch in the over 30-year history of Rebellion. We want to shine a light on something else we're proud of—how Atomfall is also Rebellion's most accessible title to date. Atomfall might offer challenges for those that want them, but it shouldn't be difficult to physically play. With that in mind, we want to showcase some of the standout accessibility features we've built to help everyone explore the mysteries of the Quarantine Zone. We've included features across motor, vision, audio and cognition, with many becoming accessibility firsts for the studio—including additional audio cues, directional indicators on subtitles, and more. We hope that the host of features, both in and outside of options, helps welcome more players to the Quarantine Zone.

Playstyle
We've built a world full of choice and we want players to be able to play their own way. So, instead of difficulty, Atomfall provides a choice of Playstyle. There are five preset Playstyles to choose from, including Investigator for those seeking more survival gameplay, Brawler for a combat-focused experience, and our default Atomfall experience in Survivor. Sightseer, on the other hand, is a preset which will allow more players to explore and enjoy the Quarantine Zone. It lessens combat and survival aspects and provides a boost to exploration to help you through the expansive Lake District and all its mysteries.

Over the past weekend we shared the first look at Marathon's gameplay in our livestream from Bungie headquarters, and now we're here to recap the highlights! In the Gameplay Reveal Showcase, we sat down with game director Joe Ziegler, franchise art director Joseph Cross, senior design lead Lars Bakken, gameplay director Andrew Witts, and senior social media manager Andy Salisbury to chat about everything from favorite Runners to gunplay to expanding the Marathon legacy. Want to see the full show? Check out the VOD below. It has all of the videos you'll see here, plus a bunch of extra details and fun moments with the team.

UP FIRST... Important dates and our first playtest
The Marathon Closed Alpha Test runs from April 23 to May 4, and Marathon launches on September 23, 2025. Wishlist on Steam to keep up with the latest news. Want to sign up for your chance to join the first playtest? Join the official Discord and follow the steps in the server to sign up. We'll be inviting players at the start of the playtest and throughout the playtest, so keep an eye on your inbox. The Closed Alpha Test will be available to players who are 18+ and located in North America. It'll be a fairly small playtest as we test our technical capabilities and gather important feedback before bigger tests. We know there are lots of you who won't be able to get in (yet), and we see you. Please hold tight! We'll be there soon

Make some space on your calendar—the Xbox Games Showcase 2025 will be livestreamed on Sunday, June 8, starting at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK time. Following in the footsteps of the 2023 Starfield Direct and 2024 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct, this year we will again have a double feature, with the Xbox Games Showcase immediately followed by The Outer Worlds 2 Direct. It all begins with our annual Xbox Games Showcase, bringing you a look at upcoming titles from across our first-party studios, in addition to incredible new titles from our third-party partners across the globe.

This year, the show will be digital-only—our livestream will bring you everything you'll need to know about what's next for Xbox, no matter where in the world you're watching. Immediately following Showcase, The Outer Worlds 2 Direct will bring you inside the walls of Obsidian Entertainment, revealing new gameplay, details, and developer insights, straight from the people making the sequel to the award-winning, first-person sci-fi RPG.

Starting today, you can dive into the sci-fi FPS action of Metal Eden with our brand-new demo available for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5—grab it on your platform of choice. We can't wait to see you experience the adrenaline rush we have in store for you while you navigate the city-planet of Moebius as it orbits the planet Vulcan. During the demo, you'll jump into Mission 0 and Mission 1 and have a chance to experiment with some of the weapons that will help you cause havoc and uncover the truth of Moebius—master these upgrades, and no foe will be able to stop you. But first a reminder of why you fight…

For humanity to survive space travel and expand across the galaxy, the Engineers invented Cores. This system can store human data by preserving a digital record of a human psyche, rebuilding it upon reaching its destination. That was the plan, however something went wrong. An erosion bomb was released by the Engineers, threatening all cores on Moebius.

More than 700 games and applications feature RTX technologies, and each week new games integrating NVIDIA DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex, and advanced ray-traced effects are released or announced, delivering the definitive PC experience for GeForce RTX players. This week, DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation is multiplying performance in Enotria: The Last Song, THE FINALS, and Wild Assault. And The Last of Us Part II Remastered is available now with DLSS Frame Generation, DLSS Super Resolution, and DLAA.

Wild Assault Launching April 11th, Featuring DLSS 4 With Multi Frame Generation
Combat Cat Studio's Wild Assault is a 20 vs. 20 third-person, Unreal Engine 5-powered, class-based PvP multiplayer shooter featuring a cast of anthropomorphic characters with unique animal-themed abilities. Battle across a variety of maps and modes in search of victory, and on GeForce RTX systems, activate DLSS and Reflex to accelerate performance and reduce PC latency.

Reburn is excited to announce that La Quimera, its narrative-driven first-person-shooter game set in a futuristic Latin American megalopolis, will release on April 25 on PC via Steam. La Quimera will be priced at MSRP $29.99/€29.99. To prepare for the launch, Reburn is hosting a closed beta for 24 hours starting April 12 at 7 a.m. PT/2 p.m. UTC. Fans can request closed beta access on La Quimera's Steam page, though slots are limited. Participants will be able to access a part of a pivotal mid-game mission in solo or co-op play. "Our Reburn team can't wait to finally share our hard work and vision for La Quimera with players on April 25," said Dmytro Lymar, CEO and co-founder of Reburn. "Ahead of our release, we invite players to join us in our closed beta to get an early look at the co-op experience for our vision of Nuevo Caracas and far beyond."

In addition, eager FPS fans can get an extended look at the title's unique blend of sci-fi world building, Latin American mysticism, and tense shooter combat in the first gameplay trailer. The gameplay trailer pulls back the curtain on La Quimera's intriguing blend of exosuit abilities, futuristic weaponry, and robotic enemies standing between the PMC and its objectives. Render enemies vulnerable with a multi-target electric shock, scan for hidden threats, dodge certain death with the exosuit's agility, and more. Even better, La Quimera players can suit up with two additional friends throughout each mission for co-op action, coordinating combat tactics and experiencing the city and jungles of Nuevo Caracas together.

Rebellion, one of the world's most successful independent video game developers and publishers, has announced that Atomfall significantly surpassed the one million player mark over the weekend, having only launched last week. In total Atomfall has now been played by over 1.5 million players. A brand-new IP set in the north of England, Atomfall is Rebellion's most successful launch in the company's 32-year history.

"We are delighted that so many players are enjoying Atomfall," said Jason Kingsley CBE, CEO and co-founder of Rebellion. "To have surpassed the one million players in such a short space of time speaks volumes for the creativity and dedication of the entire team here at Rebellion. Our size and stability mean that we can take risks to create something as different as Atomfall. Happily, that risk is paying off. We are a British company, and the game is a true reflection of that. Not only is it set in the lush, beautiful countryside but Atomfall also draws inspiration from so many classic British books, films and TV series. We hope that players continue to enjoy exploring the world of Atomfall and are looking forward to future content for the game."

As the third part of what you might call a trilogy, I went into my first hands-on for DOOM: The Dark Ages with some expectations. While they have their differences, DOOM (2016) and DOOM: Eternal had lain the groundwork - I felt like I knew what id Software had in store for me, even if this prequel story and its new medieval sci-fi aesthetic might put it in a different context. Three hours later, my expectations had been blasted to pieces like so much Arachnotron meat. DOOM: The Dark Ages retains the core hallmarks of id's recent games—pulse-pounding combat, gloriously Grand Guignol aesthetics, and music as ear-rattling as its guns—but it pushes the structure of DOOM far beyond what we've known before. I was able to play slices of four distinct sections of The Dark Ages, each designed to show me a different facet of the game, and each revealing quite how wild this will get. Let me walk you through each one.

Story Mission
"Before he became a hero, he was the super weapon of gods and kings." So reads the text slate that opens DOOM: The Dark Ages. It's an absurdly badass mission statement for the game that follows. But, playing just the opening stretch of the game, it pays off multiple times. This section showed off the most familiar form of DOOM. A cutscene (yes, there are cutscenes for the story now, not just codex entries) introduces the demon-beleaguered planet of Argent D'Nur, the questionably benevolent god-race known as the Makyrs, and our familiar lead character kept captive to be unleashed on hellish threats. And from there, I'm handed a shotgun and a shield, and told to do what a DOOM Slayer does best.

Starting this week, we're rolling out even more value to Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members with in-game benefits for free-to-play games. Members will get items like cosmetics, characters, in-game currency, and more for additional games, including Heroes of the Storm, Naraka: Bladepoint, Smite 2, and The Finals. Plus, we're adding even more benefits starting in April 2025, like Call of Duty: Warzone and Enlisted. With seasonal content drops, members always have new benefits to look forward to.

These new additions expand upon existing in-game benefits, including unlocking the full roster of champions in League of Legends, six skins in Overwatch 2, all Agents in Valorant, and more. Whether it's customization, personalization, or progression, players get even more from Game Pass. To access all these in-game benefits, Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members just need to log in with their Xbox profile or link their Xbox profile with each game's account. Then, simply launch the game with Xbox on PC or console and your extra benefits will be available in-game. For Game Pass Ultimate members, these benefits will be available when playing with Xbox across cloud, console and PC.

Introducing Wildgate—a crew-based shooter featuring out-of-this-world spaceship combat! In Wildgate, players ("Prospectors") team up in crews of four to venture into a hostile, unpredictable, and mysterious region of space ("The Reach") in search of an ancient relic known as the Artifact. While in pursuit of the Artifact, players must work together to pilot their spacecraft, plunder wreckage, and discover forgotten loot. To win, crews must successfully find and escape with the Artifact...or they can go for a domination victory, destroying all rival ships in the Reach by whatever means necessary.

NEW ADVENTURES, EVERY MATCH
Stay one step ahead as you and your crew navigate the Reach—a vast, procedurally-generated map with randomized encounters, rewards, and more that change with every game. EXPLORE THE REACH: the Reach is a wild place, filled with deadly hazards and treasure beyond your wildest dreams. Navigate through cosmic storms, battle space vermin, and plunder alien outposts for loot. Just be sure to beat other Prospectors to the punch, or risk flying away empty-handed.

If Nightdive Studios were a home, it would be built upon the foundation of System Shock. As one of the studio's formative projects, the Kickstarter campaign for its acclaimed System Shock remake put Nightdive on the map. But it wasn't System Shock that inspired Nightdive's creation, rather its sequel, System Shock 2. With the recently announced June 26, 2025, release date for System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster fast approaching, some have wondered: why a remaster instead of a full remake? To answer this, let's look back at Nightdive's origins, remasters as a form of preservation, and the many enhancements that make System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster a worthy tribute to a beloved classic!

Where It All Began
"Like many others, my first experience with System Shock was the sequel," begins Nightdive Founder and CEO Stephen Kick, who recounts being introduced to the game while eating lunch with his friends at school. After sharing how much he loved Half-Life, his friend Marshall suggested giving System Shock 2 a try. "The next day, he came back to the table and handed me the Big Box. That night, I installed the game and was instantly captivated. Every aspect of it congealed into an unforgettably immersive experience that still gives me chills every time I think about it."

Welcome to the last full week of March and it's jam-packed with new releases, with this week's major release coming out of South Korea and it should appeal to all the single player RPG fans out there. The week continues with driving really really far away, a modern take on an early arcade game, some more RPG action, although this time based on a popular TV show, which is followed up by an open world post-apocalyptic first person shooter that takes place in the UK and the week finally ends with a life sim that is not from EA. There's also a bunch of other games launching this week.

The First Berserker: Khazan / This week's major release / Thursday 27 March
Experience the brutal action of The First Berserker: Khazan, a hardcore Action RPG adventure set 800 years before the events of the Dungeon Fighter Online (DNF) Universe. You will experience the vast universe and journey to the continent of Arad and discover the untold story of General Khazan. Master deep and immersive combat mechanics while you engage in strategic battles against a diverse array of foes and bosses. Will you embrace the path of the First Berserker and embark on Khazan's path of revenge? Steam link

Hi everyone, I'm Julius Fondem, Community Manager here at Remedy Entertainment. Today I'm very excited, jazzed even, to talk to you about a brand-new feature in our upcoming game FBC: Firebreak—Altered Augments. If you're not familiar with FBC: Firebreak, it's a cooperative first-person shooter for three players set within a mysterious federal agency under assault by extradimensional forces, in the iconic Control universe. Battle through hordes of otherworldly monsters with up to two friends, customize your gear and level up as you fight back against this ever-growing threat.

This being our first multiplayer, we're very excited to bring it to you, the community, and to that end, we've designed FBC: Firebreak to be as easy as possible to get into. This is a game best played together with your friends, having a great time laughing while chaotic and wacky things happen! This isn't a new hobby that you need to log onto every day for rewards. None of that FOMO stuff here. Just get together with your friends over the weekend for a good time.

Developers at Nightdive Studios will be the first to tell you no two projects are alike. Nowhere is this more true than the soon-to-be-released remaster of System Shock 2. Announced six years ago as System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition, Nightdive reannounced the project under a new name—System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster. This name change offered eagle-eyed fans a clue as to the remaster's release window, which is only accurate preceding August 11 when System Shock 2 celebrates its 26th birthday. Sure enough, during today's MIX Spring Showcase, Nightdive shared the exciting news that System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster will release on June 26. As exciting as it's been for System Shock fans to hear they'll soon be able to play Nightdive's long-awaited System Shock 2 remaster, one key question remains: why did it take six years?

Good things take time
Nightdive has been chipping away at its remaster of System Shock 2 in the years following its announcement, working on it in conjunction with other projects. While many of these harbored their fair share of challenges, System Shock 2 was unique in regards to the number and type of complexities the team encountered. One of the biggest according to Nightdive developer Alex Lima was a lack of access to the game's complete source code. To piece everything together, "extensive reverse engineering" was required. "The codebase is a complex amalgamation of various legacy libraries developed by Looking Glass, along with some more recent contributions from both Irrational Games and Looking Glass," Lima explains. "There's virtually no consistent coding standard. As a result, we had to depend extensively on debugging and breakpoints to understand its functionality."

Hello everyone, we shared with you—earlier this month—that we wanted to tell you more about the status of our team and our future; so what better opportunity to do so as a celebration of Metro's 15th anniversary. In honor of the incredible 15 years of Metro, we've created a video to celebrate our journey throughout the tunnels of the metro system, made possible by our devoted community—always supporting us along the way. This is our thanks to you, the players.

Metro turns 15
The legacy and success of Metro over the past decade and a half is something we at 4A Games are incredibly proud of. It actually started 20 years ago when 4A Games was founded, and inspired by Dmitry Glukhovsky's then online novel, we began to work on our inaugural title of the same name, Metro 2033. Our partnership has continued, and he is working with us on our next Metro title, but more on that later. Many of the development team here at 4A Games have seen Metro evolve over the past 15 years. It is amazing to see the advancement from the pages of a novel, into a fully-realized game, through ever-improving sequels, and now into a global franchise with millions of players. We have loved being able to grow and foster an incredible community which has gone from strength to strength along with us. What we are achieving now was a far distant dream all those many years ago, and we are lucky to have so many dedicated, talented developers who are as passionate about the series as you, the players.

The next evolution of Rainbow Six Siege was revealed today at the Siege X Showcase. Launching on June 10, Siege X will introduce Dual Front, a dynamic new 6v6 game mode, as well as deliver foundational upgrades to the core game (including visual enhancements, an audio overhaul, rappel upgrades, and more) alongside revamped player protection systems, and free access that will allow players to experience the unique tactical action of Rainbow Six Siege at no cost. Plus, from now through March 19, a free Dual Front closed beta is live on PC via Ubisoft Connect, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, giving players a first chance to play the exciting new mode. Read on to find out how to get into the beta and try Dual Front for yourself.

Dual Front
Taking place on an entirely new map called District, Dual Front is a new mode that pits two teams of six Operators against each other in a fight to attack enemy sectors while defending their own. Players can choose from a curated roster of 35 Operators—both Attackers and Defenders - that will rotate twice per season. During each match, two objective points are live at all times, one in each team's lane; teams must plant a sabotage kit (akin to a defuser) in the opposing team's objective room and defend it in order to capture the sector and progress towards the final objective: the Base. Sabotage the Base to claim victory, but don't forget to defend your own sector, lest your foes progress faster than you and beat you to it.

Dear Spectre Fans, it's been two weeks since we launched Spectre Divide Season 1: Flashpoint. We're incredibly grateful for the positivity and support that you've shown over that short time. Unfortunately, the Season 1 launch hasn't achieved the level of success we needed to sustain the game and keep Mountaintop afloat. We were optimistic about the first week. We've had ~400,000 players play, with a peak concurrent player count of ~10,000 across all platforms. But as time has gone on, we haven't seen enough active players and incoming revenue to cover the day-to-day costs of Spectre and the studio. Since the PC launch, we stretched our remaining capital as far as we could, but at this point, we're out of funding to support the game. This means Mountaintop will be closing its doors at the end of this week.

We expect to take Spectre offline within the next 30 days, but we plan on disabling new purchases and refunding money spent since Season 1 launch via the platforms. We'll be following up with more information on this soon. We pursued every avenue to keep going, including finding a publisher, additional investment, and/or an acquisition. In the end, we weren't able to make it work. The industry is in a tough spot right now. This is a painful update to share. We love Spectre, and we're incredibly proud of what we built with this community. From the entire team at Mountaintop, I want to thank the Spectre community for all your support these past few years. We've loved every minute, and we're sincerely going to miss you. Special thanks to our incredible investors too, without which Spectre wouldn't have been possible.

A former Respawn Entertainment employee has revealed the recent cancellation of an "unannounced incubation project." The ex-team member's LinkedIn profile post/job-seeking alert (now removed) was widely reported on by games media outlets; leading to speculation regarding the mystery title's origins and identity. The Los Angeles, California-based company created a "new game incubation team" not too long ago—recruitment information from last year pointed to a role description that demanded: "significant professional experience designing multiplayer FPS experiences." Respawn Entertainment operates as a multi-team and multi-location development studio—with branches working on Apex Legends, Star Wars and mystery IPs. The Electronic Arts-owned firm is masterminded by Vince Zampella; a veteran developer of popular first-person shooter franchises. Based on recent official account disclosures, the EA executive is currently tasked with the challenging revival of Battlefield's fortunes.

In 2023, Zampella indicated that he was open to revisiting Respawn's long-dormant Titanfall intellectual property. The second entry in the series underperformed sales-wise when it first launched back in October 2016. Despite a fantastic critical reception and vocal support from Titanfall 2's audience, EA leadership decided to put the franchise on ice. Last March, insiders started to make speculative noise about a revival—Steve Fukuda was mentioned in leaks. His CV lists the helming of development on both Titanfall 1 and 2; as game director. The latest talk of a canceled project was soon linked back to Respawn's rumored "unannounced Titanfall IP" prototype. Respawn's website still advertises the existence of their "new game incubation team," but links lead to recruitment posts for other "active" projects. EA officially announced the shelving of the studio's "Star Wars FPS Action game" around early 2024. Respawn and EA are likely focusing on core franchises for the foreseeable future; their Star Wars Jedi: Survivor sequel seems to be a safe bet.

The Zone has never been so loud before! At the rest stops, stalkers are singing songs and playing the guitar. Laughter is heard everywhere: from Zalissya to Wild Island and beyond! At some point even the Quiet's Camp turned into a traffic jam. This week we are celebrating the 6 million stalkers who have come to play S.T.A.L.K.E.R.2: Heart of Chornobyl. Six million! A scope that is hard to comprehend, but it is real thanks to you. We are incredibly grateful and proud that each of you has left a unique mark in the Zone. Good hunting, stalkers!

Flip Side of the Zone
Local depths hold more than just artifacts and relics. They hold forgotten ambitions and dangerous knowledge, bearing scars from experiments that blur the line between science and madness. Many stalkers believe they're simply searching for material wealth, yet they brush against remnants of humanity's boldest and most perilous dreams. Old research facilities, buried under layers of dust and dread, were once brimming with the promise of progress—only to become cold graves for those strives, when the Zone was born.