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As the XCOM and Marvel’s Midnight Suns director leaves Firaxis, he chats to us about what’s next, and how life sims have been creeping into his work ever since the birth of Minecraft When I meet Jake Solomon at GDC, it’s his third day of unemployment. TheXCOMandMarvel’s Midnight Sunsdirector and designer announced he wasleaving Firaxisback in February, but his final day at the studio where he made his name and worked for more than twenty years was still very fresh in his memory....

And a first proper trailer A sequel to 1992’s classic action-platformer,Flashback 2is releasing this November on PC and consoles, publisher Microids have announced. The sequel wasfirst announceda couple of years ago withFlashback’s original creator Paul Cuisset in charge, and we finally have our first proper look at gameplay. Take a look at Flashback 2’s updated cyberpunk world below. I’m sure the trailer’s voiceover would be very informative for longtime fans of Flashback, but I was just childishly distracted by his long choppy pauses, stressing and destressing every other syllable....

Plus new campaigns, coming next month Real-time strategy gameAge Of Empires 2: Definitive Editionis now exploring the series’ own history with the Return Of Rome expansion pack, bringing back The Roman Empire and every other ancient civilisation from the very first Age Of Empires game. It’s coming on May 16th, and it essentially lets you battle and conquer like it’s 1998 again. Return Of Rome (not to be confused with the original Rise Of Rome expansion) isn’t fully integrated into Age Of Empires 2 proper, though....

Fear of looming mortality? No problem, we’ve got coffins in the back Confession time, everyone: I’m still only about 2.5 hours intoDisco Elysium. Games journalism sin or what? Somehow, despite being primed by the excellent time I had with its demo five years ago, I just bounced off this one. I very quickly got stuck in a frustrating loop of fatally ballsing up no matter what I did - presumably I badly biffed my stats right out the gate to get soft-locked in the first area - and despite deciding I’d restart in a day or two, several years later my play-time hasn’t extended past that first session....

Mew-sic to our ears My name is Katharine and I’m a reformed Pokéaddict. I thought I’d get that out there right at the start, because you can’t really talk aboutCassette Beastswithout talking a bit about Pokémon. Admittedly, the idea of an open world Pokémon-like might have lost some of its shine now that the actual Pokémon games have finally gone and done it themselves with last year’s Scarlet and Violet releases, but Cassette Beasts, the debut game from UK micro team Bytten Studio, is banging a different kind of drum to Nintendo’s primo monster catcher....

US retailers also available! It’s been possible to find tiny SSDs for the Steam Deck for a little while, but yesterday Corsair launched its 1TB MP600 Mini SSDs which ought to offer better performance than other options. Here are the cheapest places to find it in the US and UK! The Corsair MP600 Mini offers higher capacity than any Steam Deck you can buy from Valve, with the official offerings topping out at 512GB....

Watch this tiny example of what’s now possible A big new update to unofficial mod tools forAlien: Isolationhas greatly expanded the range of mods people can make. Modders can now add custom models, materials, textures, and more to Creative Assembly’s horror shooter. To quickly demonstrate the new capabilities, the toolmaker has whipped up a small example: importing classic Counter-Strike map de_dust2 into Isolation. You can see the xenomorph stalking Dust2’s sandy corridors in a fun little video below....

Gain Stellar Jade and more rewards with these HSR codes before they expire! Reap the benefits ofHonkai: Star Rail codesand discoverhow to redeem codeseasily with this comprehensive guide. We’ve compiled an up-to-date list of every activeHonkai: Star Railcode released officially by HoYoverse! Codes offer a variety of rewards, fromStellar JadesandCreditsto materials used to level up yourcharacter EXPandLight Cone EXP. Read on to maximize your Honkai: Star Rail experience and stay ahead of the game with all the codes on offer right now!...

Star Ocean, but if everyone was hotter and you could gamble Honkai: Star Railthrows you into the body of an amnesiac protagonist with unknowable hidden powers who has been awakened from a deep slumber by someone called Kafka. This woman is something of a mystery and seems to have a flair for the dramatic as she kicks off the whole game by playing an invisible violin along to the classic Baroque epic Pachelbel’s Canon as massive, intergalactic monsters invade a spaceship....

“The UK is clearly closed for business” Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard King has hit a large snag on the road. The UK’s Competitions And Markets Authority (CMA) previously released theirprovisional findingson the $69 billion buyout, laying out concerns over less competition and innovation for UK gamers. Microsoft were allowed to respond to the CMA’s findings, but it seems they weren’t able to quell the regulator’s concerns, as the CMA have now vetoed the merger....

Desta: The Memories Between was previously a Netflix exclusive Desta: The Memories Betweenis out on PC and Switch today after it was first released on mobiles (via Netflix) last year. It’s a colourful, dodgeball, tactics game from ustwo, the developers behind the perspective puzzler seriesMonument Valleyand the environmental cleaning ofAlba: A Wildlife Adventure- both very cool games. Ed enjoyed his two minutes ofhands-on timelast year, and with a pedigree this good, it’s probably worth checking out for fans of sleepy sports....

Learn all about the 1.2 and 1.3 Banners, including Kafka, Blade, and Imbibitor Lunae! Looking for details on the next Honkai: Star Rail Banner?Warp Banners are the key to expanding your character and weapon collection inHonkai: Star Rail. Banners act like loot boxes in some ways: you can spend your Star Pass currency to “Warp” forexclusive charactersandhigh-end Light Cone weapons. Head to theWarpscreen inHonkai: Star Railand you’ll see a selection of Banners that you can use to “Warp” in new characters and items....

Plus, the student edition of Octodad Developer Young Horses - best known forOctodad: Dadliest CatchandBugsnax- have released four free games as part of their Free Range collection. They describe the freebies as “the wacky projects we make between games,” which include an ant collectathon and an early prototype ofOctodad. Next up is the aforementioned ant collectathon, since its IndependANT name amuses me. Playing as an ant, it’s your job to explore a human-sized room, find food, and feed your starving ant colony....