Ubisoft announced earlier this month that it would be sunsetting its free-to-play first-person shooter, XDefiant, on June 3, 2025, after dwindling player counts made it unfeasible to continue supporting the live-service game. Despite the game being shut down by Ubisoft, the game's development team at Ubisoft San Francisco apparently still wanted to follow through with some of the content it had in the game's pipeline. In an announcement on X, the game's executive producer clarifies that much of the content that is being delivered in what he calls the last patch contains all the content that was planned for Season 3 along with some content from future seasons of the game, including Season 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Some major highlights in the new patch, are 13 new maps, three new factions, including the Assassins—from Assassin's Creed—six new weapons, and five new game modes. Along with the slew of new content, XDefiant received a handful of gameplay and QoL fixes for both competitive and casual play. The new maps consist of eight new arena maps, four new linear maps, and one new tactical map. XDefiant also got a new progression system that allows players to unlock cosmetics, badges, and other rewards for character progression. The developer also introduced daily rewards and "Credits," the game's new in-game currency that allows players to buy skins and other items from previous seasons.

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

Today, Remedy Entertainment has unveiled FBC: Firebreak (formerly known as Project Condor), with players joining the enigmatic Federal Bureau of Control (FBC) in a three-player cooperative first-person shooter. As the Bureau's headquarters faces a deadly and prolonged siege by otherworldly forces, only Firebreak—its most adaptable response unit—has the skills and courage to restore order.

The mid-priced FBC: Firebreak will be the first self-published game from Remedy Entertainment and is scheduled to release in 2025 for PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. FBC: Firebreak will launch day one on PC Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate. It also launches day one onto the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog, available for all Extra and Premium members.

More than 600 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 the FragPunk beta kicks off, with DLSS 3 and a suite of ray-traced effects, Simulakros and Starship Troopers: Extermination launch with DLSS 3, and the much-anticipated SILENT HILL 2 arrives with day-one support for DLSS Super Resolution. Additionally, you can check out a new DLSS 3 performance video showcasing God of War Ragnarök running on GeForce RTX, and a new one-of-a-kind LEGO Fortnite inspired RTX PC featuring a GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER.

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

Metal: Hellsinger is a first-person rhythm shooter featuring roguelike and boomer shooter elements and set to a heavy metal soundtrack with some of the metal world's biggest names. The game follows a mysterious protagonist, known simply as The Unknown, as she battles her way through the various levels of hell on a quest to regain her voice. Today, the rhythm shooter launches an additional VR version, with some interesting new VR-specific rhythm mechanics to spice things up.

Being a rhythm game, Metal: Hellsinger gives players bonuses for performing actions on-beat with the background music—which often gets quite challenging due to the fast pace and swarming enemies—but the VR version steps things up a notch, allowing you to aim the game's dual pistols individually, physically draw and release the crossbow, and actively reload the shotgun to the beat.

Acer today unveiled the Project DualPlay gaming laptop concept at its next@acer global press conference in Berlin, Germany. This Predator concept embraces the latest gaming trends, unleashing a new dimension of versatile and shared PC gaming experiences that converge in one powerful device.

Project DualPlay pushes the boundaries of gaming on-the-go, offering players more ways to enjoy their favorite AAA titles. The cutting-edge design features a vast touchpad that doubles as a built-in detachable wireless controller. Players can easily wield the wireless controller from its electromagnetic lock by simply placing two fingers on the release button located on top of the keyboard. This action also triggers the two high-fidelity, 5-watt pop-out speakers to emerge from the sides of the laptop, immersing players in heart-pounding audio that brings every scene to life.

Welcome to the month of September, the start of autumn for some and the start of spring for others. The new month starts off at a higher tempo than last month, but there are no AAA releases this month, although there are multiple larger releases. This week's major release is a new take on the traditional first person tactical shooter genre, where there are two of you. This is followed by a WWII tactical stealth adventure, a trucking game, but in space, a godly remake, a tavern and finally a sleuth game with a Japanese twist. Don't forget to change over your wardrobes this week.

Spectre Divide / This week's major release / Tuesday 3 September
Spectre Divide is the genre-evolving, competitive 3v3 tactical shooter driven by Duality. Use Duality to control two bodies in real-time, letting you defend two sites at once, cover your own cross, or even trade yourself. Master tactical gunplay and an arsenal of future tech to achieve infamy. Steam Link

As we enter the second to last week of August, we finally have a massive new AAA release that involves a magical Chinese monkey. As for the rest of this week's upcoming new games, we have a cyberpunk co-op looter shooter, a dusty story-driven action-adventure, a wholesome narrative game, wizards with guns and a game named after a very fast airplane, even though it doesn't even seem to involve any airplanes.

Black Myth: Wukong / This week's AAA release / Tuesday 20 August
Black Myth: Wukong is an action RPG rooted in Chinese mythology. The story is based on Journey to the West, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. You shall set out as the Destined One to venture into the challenges and marvels ahead, to uncover the obscured truth beneath the veil of a glorious legend from the past. Steam Link

As we enter the last full week of July, we return to our regular summer scheduling with yet another week without any big releases. This week's major release involves building a fortress to protect your people from endless horrors. This is followed by some crime investigation, managing race cars, climbing mountains, defending the earth and finally hoarding some masks. It's by no means a terrible week of new games, just nothing that's likely to blow your mind.

Cataclismo / This week's major release / Monday 22 July / Early Access
Lead the last survivors in the aftermath of the Cataclismo as a corrupted world seeks to destroy all that remains of humanity. Build fortresses brick by brick, designing intricate, towering structures of wood and stone to fend off waves of Horrors as they attempt to overwhelm your band of survivors. Command powerful units in their stalwart defense, coordinating their varied capabilities as you race from breach to breach. Steam link

After several slow weeks of new game releases, we now have a week that's overflowing with new game releases. The most anticipated release this week is an online PvPvE dungeon crawler, built on Unreal Engine 5. This is followed by a crusty space game, an evil game, a game that involves attracting birds to you, a dystopian New York of the future, a bit of Japanese folklore, some more dungeons, fighting some gods and finally being a Japanese goddess. Yes, we threw in a bunch of extra games this week, yet we're not able to cover all the new releases that are coming out.

Dungeonborne / This week's major release / Friday 19 July / Early Access
Dungeonborne is an immersive first-person PvPvE dungeon crawler. Venture solo or join forces with trusted companions to hunt for treasure, explore ominous dungeons, and battle terrifying monsters and cunning adversaries. Escape before succumbing to darkness and greed. Embrace your role as a Fighter, Priest, Rogue, Swordmaster, Pyromancer, Cryomancer, Death Knight, or Druid. With first-person clarity, feel the power of each spell, the weight of your weapons, and the strategic impact of every decision. Charge into battle, unleash devastating skills to disrupt enemy formations, cast life-saving buffs on allies, or use tactical throwables to turn the tide. Steam link

Today marks a significant milestone for one of the most iconic and influential first-person shooter franchises of all time—Counter-Strike is celebrating its 25th anniversary. What began as a humble Half-Life mod in 1999 has evolved into a global phenomenon, captivating millions with its intense, team-based tactical gameplay. The original Counter-Strike was instantly hit upon its public beta release on June 19, 1999, quickly building a fervent cult following among PC gamers. Valve soon recognized its potential, acquiring the rights and releasing an official standalone version in November 2000. This launched Counter-Strike into the mainstream, kicking off over two decades of continuous development, innovation, and fierce competitive play. Over the years, the series has seen multiple major releases like Condition Zero, Source, and the juggernaut Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2012. Each introduced new maps, weapons, graphics enhancements, and gameplay twists like CS: GO's Danger Zone battle royale mode.

But the core hook remained—tightly coordinated attack/defense scenarios demanding skill, strategy, and pinpoint shooting accuracy. Many of us grew up playing Counter Strike. The latest evolution arrived last September with Counter-Strike 2, ushering in a new engine, revamped graphics, and additional gameplay refinements. While initially met with some skepticism from hardcore fans, CS2 has been widely embraced, smashing records with over 1.5 million peak concurrent players. The key to Counter-Strike's enduring success has been its best-in-class core gameplay loop combined with Valve's commitment to evolve with the times. But just as crucial is the passionate global community that has embraced the series' high-skill cap and opportunities for creative strategies. Many have remained devoted for decades, fueling a robust professional esports scene. As it enters its 26th year, Counter-Strike's tactical multiplayer mayhem shows no signs of slowing down. Its unique blend of shooting fundamentals and cerebral team play has firmly cemented its place as one of the most influential games ever made.

After a couple of slow weeks of new game releases, we're finally back on track with a wealth of new game releases this week. We even have a AAA title, although some of you might disagree with it being such, mainly due to the blue aliens and there being four different editions of the game. When it comes to the rest of this week's releases, we have a city builder with sacrifices, a medieval inspired MMO, a very sandy game that has nothing to do with giant worms, a Viking inspired online co-op game, a DLC for a very popular RPG game and a dystopian city builder.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora coming to Steam / This week's AAA release / Monday 17 June
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a first-person, action-adventure game set in the Western Frontier. Abducted by the RDA, you, a Na'vi, were molded to serve their purpose. Fifteen years later, you are free, but find yourself a stranger in your birthplace. Reconnect with your lost heritage and discover what it truly means to be Na'vi as you join other clans to protect Pandora. Steam link

Welcome to post Computex week and another slow week of game releases. Except for the first week of the year, no other week this year has had so few exciting new releases, but at least it gives all of you another week to enjoy your current game collection. With no further ado, below is this week's release of the most interesting games we managed to dig up.

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance / This week's major release / Friday 14 June
Become a mighty demigod and battle through a decimated Tokyo in a war between angels and demons. Make new allies along your journey, engage in intense, turn-based combat, recruit hundreds of demons and forge your own path to dictate the fate of all existence. Steam Link

Hellsingers! Did you think the music had stopped? Hells, no! We're proud to announce Metal: Hellsinger VR, coming to Meta Quest 2 & 3, Meta Quest Pro, PS VR 2, and Steam in 2024! Get ready to be fully immersed in metal and mayhem. Step into the body of the Unknown in full VR and become a true demon of vengeance. Wield her full wicked arsenal in your very hands and unleash its power straight into the snarling hordes' ugly faces. The original acclaimed rhythm shooter, developed by The Outsiders and rated 96% positive on Steam, has been developed for VR from the ground up in collaboration with Lab42 Games, to take full advantage of the potential of VR.

Metal: Hellsinger VR includes everything you've come to know and love in Metal: Hellsinger. That means the full award-winning soundtrack performed by your favorite metal legends, and the entire campaign to wreak vengeance upon the Red Judge all in glorious VR. The game has been rebuilt to take full advantage of the strengths of VR, creating accurate and meaty gunplay, a world that pulsates to the beat, and doing away with most menus for an immersive hub area. Aim dual pistols independently, cock your shotgun, and make them fear the beat.

Paradox Interactive and Channel 3 Entertainment are thrilled to announce that Foundry will be launching in Early Access on Steam on May 2nd. Foundry, the procedurally-generated voxel factory-building and automation sandbox, already garnered 100,000 players during its alpha phase on Itch.io and its demo on Steam Next Fest in October 2023.

Foundry is a first-person, factory-building and automation sandbox set in a beautiful, procedurally-generated voxel world. Starting from humble beginnings of manually mining and processing resources, crafting machinery, and developing technologies, players can advance to automating the entire production line to their precise plans. They will face different logistic challenges such as planning pipe and belt networks and managing complex power systems, working to expand their constantly growing production lines as they create their own gigantic, automated, and self-sustaining factory. Played solo or with friends, Foundry is the perfect mix between grid-based construction games and factory building simulations.

Today, during the latest Xbox Partner Preview broadcast—as a surprise for Xbox gamers everywhere—GSC Game World launched the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S (via backwards compatibility). That's right - it's available today! The Legends of the Zone Trilogy bundle—available on the Microsoft Store for $39.99 USD—includes all three iconic games that make up the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Trilogy: Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Pripyat—or you can pick up each of the games individually for $19.99 USD each. Every element from the original games has been maintained and faithfully ported to console thanks to the hard work of GSC Game World and their partners at Mataboo. This all makes for a great opportunity for Xbox gamers everywhere to get some foundational knowledge of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s universe in the lead-up to the launch of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, coming day one to Game Pass on September 5, 2024.

But translating these hardcore PC games to an Xbox controller has been no small feat. For a series that is known for blending a variety of genres like horror, first-person shooter, exploration, and immersive sim, it was important for the team to get it right. Speaking with GSC Game World PR Specialist Zakhar Bocharov, we wanted to learn more about what this process was like, bringing these cult-classic, hardcore PC titles to console, and some of the innovative design and UI adjustments the team had to make to bring all three games to Xbox.

Hey Realmwalkers, we've seen a lot of discussion in recent days around our decision to make Nightingale online-only at our Early Access release. We understand that this can be frustrating for a number of reasons. Our vision for the game since inception was to create an interconnected series of Realms, with the idea of allowing for co-operative exploration in mind—a universe bigger than a single Realm or server. That meant we made a choice early in development between supporting co-op from day one or focusing development on an offline mode.

Co-operative gameplay associated with having party members across multiple Realms was the more technically challenging problem and therefore the one we chose to tackle first. Looking back on that decision, we misjudged what some of you were looking for in your experience.

Job listings posted by Respawn Entertainment last summer indicated that their Star Wars Jedi: Survivor development team had moved onto an unsurprising project—the ideal candidate(s) would help: "create an incredible Star Wars experience for our players in a fun, third-person action-adventure setting." Games industry watchers believe that a third Star Wars Jedi title is in the works, given that the franchise has—so far—generated a large paying audience. Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson reckons that another Star Wars IP has been bestowed upon Electronic Art's action specialist studio—the report posits that this rumored project is in an early stage of development. Veteran developers at Respawn Entertainment have a long history of producing blockbuster first-person shooter titles, although Apex Legends signaled a slight change in course. Their deviation into third-person with 2019's Jedi: Fallen Order also surprised a segment of longtime Respawn fans.

It is possible that the Electronic Arts and Lucasfilm Games partnership has incubated a new first-person title semi-connected to a popular Star Wars television series IP—Henderson has gathered a few tidbits: "according to sources, the game will see the player take control of a Mandalorian bounty hunter (unclear who) set during the time when the Galactic Empire is dominating across the galaxy. It's your job, as a bounty hunter to capture bounties dead or alive for cash rewards." Rumor mill wires were crossed when it was claimed that a former Apex Legend director was heading up development on the unannounced "Mandalorian" project, but an Insider Gaming update reveals that the former Respawn member was involved in development of a cancelled Apex title.

As we enter the third week of the year's shortest month, we have a ton of new games to look forward to, with the major release this week being a gaslamp fantasy game with an open world and some multiplayer co-op action. As for the remaining games this week, we have an indie sci-fi shooter, a racing sim, a terminator franchise title, a couple of survival games set in different locations, with the latter one being a multiplayer game as well.

Nightingale / This week's major release / Tuesday 20 February
Nightingale is a PVE open-world survival crafting game played solo or cooperatively with friends. Build, craft, fight and explore as you venture through mystical portals into a variety of amazing and fantastical realms. You are stranded beyond our world, cut off by the collapse of the arcane portal network. This catastrophe has left you fighting to survive in a labyrinth of beautiful and dangerous Fae realms. Your goal: become a skilled Realmwalker, and navigate the web of transdimensional portals. Only then can you discover your way to the magical city of Nightingale, the last known bastion of humanity.

A state-of-the-art airship hovers above a vast toxic dust cloud, shrouding an ecologically devastated Earth. That's what most people notice when they see Forever Skies for the first time. And while this creates an interesting and unique premise to explore, it's one that was inspired by rather somber real-world circumstances. Read on to learn about the inspiration behind this first-person post-apocalyptic survival game, coming to PC and PS5 this year.

While our team is from around the world, a significant portion of us are based in Poland. For decades now, our country has been notorious for its poor air quality, particularly during the winter months. Iconic Polish cities such as Krakow or Wroclaw are frequently ranked alongside massive megacities like Beijing, Delhi, or Lahore. But these are massive metropolises with 10 or even 20+ million people living in them. Cracow or Wroclaw don't even exceed 700,000 people and yet we regularly get public warning announcements to stay indoors because of the current air pollution levels.

Hi everyone, I'm Samar, Associate Game Director at Vertigo Games. We couldn't be more excited to reveal our next project, Metro Awakening, during today's State of Play. We're proud to say that, with the support of Deep Silver, for the last two and a half years we've been working to bring the post-apocalyptic world of Metro to PS VR2, Meta Quest 2+3 and Steam VR 2024. The best video games take us out of our world by putting us in the boots of someone else. They let us experience that world through their eyes. The Metro series continually strives to achieve this. Inspired by the internationally best-selling novels by Dmitry Glukhovsky, Metro 2033, Metro: Last Light, and Metro Exodus delivered immersive first-person experiences at release. These games put players in the heart of a desperate battle for survival after nuclear Armageddon. Metro Awakening is an all-new Metro game made exclusively for VR, and powered by the immersive features of PS VR2 and its Sense controllers.

It's an origins story, set before the events of Metro 2033, that both offers a whole new angle for Metro fans, and a fantastic starting point for seasoned VR players ready to put on the gas mask. Set in 2028, the all-new story is penned by series creator Dmitry Glukhovsky. You play as Serdar, a doctor searching for his wife amongst the claustrophobic, irradiated metro tunnels of post-apocalyptic Moscow. As Serdar ventures deeper into the Metro his courage and sanity will be tested by the supernatural forces he encounters, and will set in motion the events that lead to his spiritual awakening as something else entirely…

In dev diary #1, Alex Skidmore, Project Creative Director at The Chinese Room (TCR) wrote about the first game pillar "Feel like a Vampire," which sets the player fantasy as a guiding light for creative decisions. We've shown a lot of combat so far to give you a taste of the power and flow. What you've seen is influenced by the second game pillar: "Visceral, Immersive Combat" which directs the action gameplay. Today, Alex is back to share his thoughts on this important part of the Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2.

When designing Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 combat the goal was to create an action experience that can compete with modern titles. We think of it in three main gameplay styles we want to offer to you all - existing Bloodlines fans, and players who are new to the World of Darkness. The 1st playstyle we at TCR call the Strategic Stalker: as the name reflects, fans of more strategic combat experiences where staying hidden and using the element of surprise is key will get their vampire predator fantasy. Did you enjoy the Dishonored series, or playing stealth-focused builds in Fallout or Elder Scrolls games? Me too! It gives you time to prepare what Discipline power you'd like to use and when. Once your plan is ready, summoning the powers of the blood, sneaking up on an enemy, distracting them, feeding on them before a fight breaks out or hit and run tactics are options for people who love to play this way.

It's going to be a good year for Xbox players. At this week's Developer_Direct show, we provided deep-dives into five new games launching across Xbox Series X|S, PC, Game Pass and/or cloud—all of which will arrive later in 2024. Development teams at Xbox, Bethesda, and even one of our third-party partners invited you into their studios to showcase extended gameplay, reveal key information, and more. Members of each development team gave us a look into their creation, with new information, and offered a tantalizing glimpse of what's to come this year. All four of these games will arrive on day one with Game Pass, and will contribute to what's going to be another huge year for members, delivering incredible games throughout 2024.

Avowed—Launching Fall 2024
Avowed Game Director Carrie Patel gave us a first deep-dive into the gameplay in Obsidian's upcoming fantasy action RPG, from its dynamic combat, to its thoughtful reactivity, to its "colorful, vibrant, strange" world set in the Living Lands. Avowed continues Obsidian's signature style of creating games with deep themes and player choice at the forefront. Not only will you make narrative decisions that can impact changes in the game down the line, but Avowed is also looking to offer choice in combat. Gameplay Director Gabe Paramo discussed not only how varied your weaponry will be - with melee weapons, ranged guns and bows, and magic-based wands (even dual-wielded wands!) to name a few—but how flexible combat can be, allowing you to quickly change loadouts for enemy encounters. Swappable loadouts mean you can approach combat however feels right to you.

This new journey starring the legendary archaeologist comes from the award-winning team at MachineGames—the minds behind Wolfenstein: The New Order and Wolfenstein: The New Colossus—in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games and executive produced by Bethesda Game Studios' Todd Howard. Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is coming later this year to Xbox Series X|S and PC and will be available day one on Game Pass. Check out the full announce from the Developer_Direct and get more insights from the team at MachineGames below.

Set between "Raiders of the Lost Ark " and "The Last Crusade," Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is a first-person, single-player adventure that will take you all over the world, uncovering clues and solving an ancient mystery. Become the adventurer in a race against sinister forces. Your journeys will take you from the hallowed halls of the Vatican and the arid deserts of Egypt to the lush and sunken temples of Sukhothai and the frigid peaks of the Himalayas.