Our weekly news liveblog
This week is the week ofThe Games Awards, aka Geoffest, aka the Ke3ghleys - an absolute banquet of trailers, release dates and game announcements for the Maw. There are a few reveals in the offing. Some, we already know about, and may even have written up in advance; others, we’ll learn about together with your good selves when the livestream begins at 4.30pm Los Angeles time on 7th December, which equates to 12.30am on 8th December (ouch) in the UK. There’s the trifling matter of the firstGTA 6 traileron 5th December, too.
Some games out this week that we’re keeping in the corner of our eye, in case they turn on us:A Highland Song(5th Dec),Blood West(5th Dec),Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader(7th Dec),Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora(7th Dec).
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
It isMAWNDAY. Do I hear the wail of a thousand embargoed news stories? Re-ensorcel the fifth Warding Line! Fetch my extra-large hammer! FEED THE MAW.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Some rowdykick-off music for this week- Pearl Jam’s Do the Evolution.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
EA havetrademarked “Neon Fox”, as passed on by TwiXer user Kurakasis. Is it a game? A new studio? It seems likely we’ll find out later this week.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Phil Spencer has beenchatting to Windows Centralabout all things Xbox. Apparently, Microsoft has spent “over a billion dollars a year supporting third-party games coming into Game Pass”. Spencer also said of his penchant for name-dropping old franchises people would love Microsoft to revive that “usually when I tease, there’s something there”.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
This morning’s updates are being written as I travel to a press event for Something Fairly Big - hope to share more soon.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Speaking toMP1st, Crytek have confirmed that yes, Crysis 4 is still in development.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
NetherRealm’s Ed Boon has said that there’s a Mortal Kombat 1 story expansion in the works, which will be followed by a “big surprise”.
.@noobde: “just like we did with MK11, we’re going to release a second part with more story and we have a big surprise after that.”#MortalKombat#MK1#CCXP#MortalKombat1pic.twitter.com/w1o2Xgm7sN
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
The Game Bakers have releaseda free 8-bit demakeof their cult hit boss-attacker Furi.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Now that I’ve hyped it up, it’s probably going to turn out to be some gun cosmetics or something.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
34 people have been laid off from Fae Farm and Dauntless developer Phoenix Labs, as reported byGI. Best of luck to all affected.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Every social media account under the sun is ripping off the GTA 6 teaser image, including the, er, city of São Paulo?
Tá acontecendo🤩Saiba os detalhes:https://t.co/Ofdny2LcwC#diadosamba#saopaulopic.twitter.com/mpfzFly6v5
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
As spotted by players andreported by GR, Rockstar teased GTA 6’s trailer release date on a T-shirt for GTA Online way back in June. What else have they hidden away in the existing game?
Looks like@RockstarGamessecretly teased GTA 6’s big trailer reveal a few months ago with the “ONEDAYWILLREVEALALL” t-shirt in GTA Online.It featured a bunch of numbers on it but as one GTA Forums user noted back in October, there was a notable number sequence of “12523” on itpic.twitter.com/s3YvSeLw8T
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
New trailer for Mortal Kombat 1 character Quan Chi, who prevails over opponents by means of reasoned discussion and compassionate dialogue. Just kidding, he summons tentacles and skeletons to smack people about.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Shout-out forEndlight, still a mind-bending anti-shmup, still getting updates, the latest of which went live over the weekend.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Here’sa grim puzzler I found- out this week, demo on Steam - that might interest people who enjoy moving blocks and don’t mind creepy-crawlies.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Ooh, there’s a newDungeons & Dragons co-op game on the way from Payday makers Starbreeze.
Details are scarce, but I would wage this being a sort of D&D Vermintide, perhaps themed around heisting treasure from castles - in keeping with both Payday and this year’s movie Honor Among Thieves?
–Matt Jarvis
In case you forget, nineties sci-fi adventure game Outcast is getting a sequel - andwe now know a release date for its long-awaited follow-up.
Outcast: A New Beginning (which dropped its ‘2’ to encourage newcomers to come give it a go) will land next March, bringing back shooty-man Cutter Slade in an alien planet adventure that its devs - including some of the OG team - say will offer a more thoughtful take on the open-world formula. It’ll at least be shorter than your average sprawling Assassin’s Creed-a-like, lasting around 35 hours.
–Matt Jarvis
Stellaris Nexus - the bite-sized 4X aiming to offer everything that Stellaris does but in minutes instead of hours - has hadits release date pushed back a week to December 12th.
Even so, you’ll still be able to play it - and now for free for a few days, as tomorrow will instead kick off a week-long open beta before the early access launch. So, win-win?
–Matt Jarvis
Was the reveal date for GTA 6’s first trailer teased by Rockstar back in June via a virtual shirt for GTA Online?
And could that same shirt also be hiding the release date for GTA 6?
It mean, it’s unlikely, but that hasn’t stopped some fans from becoming convincedthat’s the case.
–Matt Jarvis
Another game I keep meaning to play - looks excellent.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Whoops, the GTA 6 trailer has gone live ahead of schedule. It leaked earlier, and Rockstar evidently decided it was better to have a proper version on show rather than a smudgy pirate one covered with a hideous cryptocurrency watermark. Here’sKatharine’s full write-up.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
IT IS TUESGTA6, FEED THE ROCKSTAR- I mean,IT IS TUESDAY, FEED THE MAW.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Ugh, I’d forgotten how much the Maw likes 80s rock. On which note, here’s your morning music -a little Tom Petty numberyou might have heard in a trailer overnight.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Spare a thought for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, which launched its teaser trailer straight into the GTAvalanche yesterday.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Rockstar have confirmed GTA 6 release platforms… but there’s no mention yet of PC. GTA 5, let’s not forget, took around a year and a half to make the leap from consoles.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Any bets on whether that’s actually Patrick Stewart in the Dragon Age teaser? It certainly sounds like him.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
A couple from the RPS frontpage -thoughts on the DA: Dreadwolf trailer, andsome gentle fist-waving about the absence of a GTA 6 PC release date.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Horror puzzler The Great Below isout today on Steam. I played the demo a while back and found it to be very enticing.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
MiniMatt, why must you pour icy-cold water on my Stewart rumour-mongering.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Born of Bread isout todayand looks like Paper Mario but doughier. I approve.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Yet more games industry layoffs are taking place atNew World InteractiveandCodemasters, though Embracer and EA are yet to share exact numbers.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Reader I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze has a music recommendation, which has been trapped in limbo by the Maw comments thread’s complex abjuration seals - it’sDamnation Alleyfor us all.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Braid and The Witness developer Jonathan Blow is hiring a team to develop a VR game. There are no details on the game itself butover on Twitter he said it"has a boundary-pushing design and is made for untethered, roomscale play, with none of those game-ruining concessions for seated or stationary play." Impressive he’s found a way to be snooty about an already hyper-niche product like VR.
–Graham Smith
Ubisoft put out some"before you play" information on Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora, which launches this Thursday. In brief: there’s a mandatory day one patch you’ll need an internet connection to download; there’s an offline mode otherwise; and 2-player co-op only unlocks after a particular story quest.
–Graham Smith
I’m sort of fascinated by Killer Bean, the third-person action game based on the early internet 3D animation. Anew videoreleased this week details its stealth and combat, featuring wrestling move sneak-attacks and lots of slow motion John Woo dives.
–Graham Smith
DLC heroes are coming to Warhammer Age Of Sigmar: Realms Of Ruin, Creative Assembly’sailingstrategy game. The Stormcast’s Yndrasta, the Celestial Spear and Kruleboyz' Gobsprakk, the Mouth Of Mork will arrive on December 11th, anda new trailer showsshows them at their posing best.
–Graham Smith
–Graham Smith
Cyberpunk 2077’sUpdate 2.1 is out now, which adds a functioning metro system and new romantic hangouts to CDPR’s excellent open world FPS-RPG.
–Graham Smith
Steam VR Fest is underway until December 11th, with discounts and demos forgames that hug your face.
–Graham Smith
I’m out. I leave you with a song, theunofficial Rocket League theme.
–Graham Smith
IT IS WEDNESDAY. Containment fields are holding steady at 66.6% capacity! Set the Supernormal Flux Calibrator to “Steady As She Goes”. FEED THE MAW.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
The new Tribes game, Tribes 3: Rivals, won’t be free-to-play, as reported byPCGamer.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Somebody’s remade the GTA 6 trailer in the original GTA: Vice City - which, according to Graham,hasn’t aged very well.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Call of Duty: Warzone’s new Urzikstan map is out today, as reported byVGC. It’s designed for 100 players and has 11 points of interest.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
The Lamplighter’s League has received a free 1.3 update with a new playable character, hothead merc Isaac Greymoor, and events system , even as publisher Paradox and developer Harebrained Schemes part ways (thanksEurogamer).
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Bad news from Armello developers League of Geeks. They’ve laying off over half their studio, and are pausing development of the extremely promising Jumplight Odyssey “indefinitely”.
We’ve got some unfortunate news to share, folks. A thread:pic.twitter.com/hDjlrkKtdV
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Cryptical Pathis declaring itself the first “rogue-builder”, in which you hand-assemble the world as you explore it. There’s a demo, if that sounds intriguing.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Larian have released some moreBaldur’s Gate 3stats, revealing that 94% of players have created a custom character, and that they’ve spent a combined 8196 years doing so in its character creator menus.
For those playing as one of the origin characters, Gale has proven to be the most popular, though he’s closely followed by Astarion. Shadowheart, meanwhile, has become the most popular romantic interest, with 51.3% of players reaching the final act of her romance arc. More stats in the tweet below.
⚔️ Since our launch in August, over 1.3 million players have completed Baldur’s Gate 3.🧀 A number almost equaled by those of you transformed into a wheel of cheese.📈 All this, and more in our latest thread of amazing stats!pic.twitter.com/38hSZw1wPk
–Katharine Castle
Here’sa bit more info on the new Tribes game. Key takeaway: it’s not free-to-play.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Missed The Day Of The Devs showcase this afternoon? We’ve got all20 announcements right here.
–Katharine Castle
Surprising no one, my highlight from Day Of The Devs is thefreshly-announced sequelto Tangle Tower, The Mermaid’s Tongue! There’s also a demo available now onSteamif you fancy giving its prologue a go, too.
–Katharine Castle
Kind Words 2 was also announcedduring Day Of The Devs, where your lofi letter writing expands to let you explore a big cosy city.
–Katharine Castle
Genesis Noir likers will also be pleased to hear Feral Cat Den are back with a brand-new cosmic adventure in the form of Nirvana Noir. Here’s the exceptionally colourful reveal trailer:
–Katharine Castle
–Katharine Castle
A couple more announcements coming out of the Wholesome Snack stream as well this evening:
–Katharine Castle
ThatLego Fortnite modesure looks like… Lego Minecraft?
It’s a full co-op survival and crafting game inside of Fortnite, with your characters replaced by dinky plastic minifigs.
There’s skeletons, lava monsters and more - it looks essentially like a whole new game with a lot of work going into making it all brickified, which is exciting. And it’s out tomorrow!
–Matt Jarvis
Baldur’s Gate 3 players have racked up more time playing the D&D game - whether shagging bears, being turned into cheese or whatever else - than human civilisation has existed.
That’squite a while!
–Matt Jarvis
Lightyear Frontier - Stardew farming by way of PowerWash Sim’s chill menial labour, topped with Armoured Core mechs -will be out next March, after sliding back from its original early access launch date in spring. It looks charming and relaxed as all heck.
–Matt Jarvis
Wildly prolific and, well, just plain wild British indie dev Jeff Minter will see his 40-year career traced bya new interactive documentary from Digital Eclipse, the folks behind that excellent Making of Karateka.
Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Storywill include over 40 games - including a remastered Gridrunner and never-before-seen demo for the unreleased Konix Multi-System - and plenty of background about Minter and his influential label Llamasoft.
–Matt Jarvis
IGN has anilluminating insider reportfrom Rebekah Valentine on life at Bungie in the wake ofOctober’s layoffs.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
IT IS THURSDAY – wait, is this thing on? I’m pressing the button Katharine but nothing’s happening.KATHERINE I THINK THE MICROPHONE’S BROKENoh, there we go. Start over:IT IS THURSDAY. FEED THE MAW!
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
And so it begins: the last big push to The Game Awards, beginning roughly 15 and a half hours from now. Tamesis and Brigantia defend us in this, the time of Maximum News.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Ha ha ha. You will see.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
A remake of mournful “single-player co-op” outing Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons isrumoured to be in development.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Lawks, Supermassive and Behaviour Interactive will show off a single-player Dead by Daylight game at the TGAs later -thanks VGC.
👀@thegameawardspic.twitter.com/o8BCS99w43
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
As passed on byVideogamer, former Rockstar animator Mike York (who worked on Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA 5) has posteda Youtube reactionto the GTA 6 trailer in which he asserts that everything you see was captured in-game, rather than being a pre-rendered cinematic.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
This morning’s music:Sister of Pearl, from Baio by way of The Umbrella Academy.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Here’sour piece on the situation at Bungie. Working on Destiny 2 doesn’t sound very fun at the moment.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
In case you’re wondering how we’re handling the Game Award announcements - James will run a separate dedicated TGA liveblog, which I’ll link to here later on, rather than us posting updates side-by-side. The Maw isn’tthatravenous.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Chivalry 2 is getting a free weekend from 1pm EST or 8am UK 7th December to 3am EST 11th December or 10pm UK 12th December on Steam and Epic, should you be in the mood to wallop some knights.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
As you’ve hopefully seen, ourGame Awards liveblogis now, um, live. Again, we’ll be covering the TGA announcements over there, not here. I’m off to put my head in a bucket of sand for several hours to ready my nerves for the upcoming Geoffathon.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
…it is Friday. We have been up all night feeding Geoff Keighley to the Maw. I think that’s the last of it. Apparently Ollie is working on some kind of round-up post. Who knows? Who knows anything anymore?
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Those of us who covered the Game Awards are largely taking today off - Rick Lane should be in to cover for me, but I might put my head round the door later on. Do you have a favourite announcement? I am probably most pumped for Thrasher.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
The kindness is appreciated but please, no more coffee. I think I am more coffee than man at this point.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Here’s thatround-up of all the TGA trailers and announcements. Right, I’ll see you on the other side of lunchtime, if not the weekend.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
That new Alone in the Dark will now emerge into a slightly less dark month:March.
–Matt Jarvis
Today’s dose of sobering industry news: Welcome to Elk, Ynglet and Dead Pets Unleashed devsTriple Topping have declared bankruptcy and laid off their entire staff.
Dead Pets Unleashed will apparently still see a release, with plans being made for the future of their other games, but otherwise the studio “no longer exists”, its CEO announced.
–Matt Jarvis
Impressed by how sharp the GTA 6 trailer looked? You weren’t alone - even ex-Rockstar devs were blown away.
A former animator on GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 has chimed in with his take on the trailer, praising its level of detail across everything from fidelity to animations andsaying that the trailer reflects how gameplay is “really going to look”.
–Matt Jarvis
What do you get when two indie megahits Voltron up? Vampire Survivor’s Among Us DLC, which will add nine new characters, a map inspired by the traitorous space game, loads of new weapons and more.
It’s out in just over a week!
–Matt Jarvis
There’sa demo out for V.A Proxy, the game in which you can parry nukes, and also apparently gods.
V.Aproxy demo is OUT!!! Go out there and parry god! Or harass local machines minding their businesspic.twitter.com/DiRij1nVLR
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
I will say, for my part, that it would seem daft to not write about what’s obviously a big event on the industry calendar. We should write about it critically and we should write about the games that are announced there which we think are interesting or relevant to our readers. Writing about World Of Goo 2 (WORLD OF GOO 2!!) does not mean we think it’s a swell event.
–Graham Smith
Movement speed in The Finals hasn’t changed since the beta, its developers say, despite players complaining that it feels slower now. The issue lies in animation and FOV changes, devs say, andthey’re working on fixes.
–Graham Smith
Metal: Hellsinger, the rhythm-based shooter, now has ahorde mode thanks to a free update. There’s new DLC, too.
–Graham Smith
The Sims 4’sFor Rent expansion came out this week, letting you create landlords and tenants and move multiple families onto a single lot.
–Graham Smith
The Maw dies, the Maw lives. Here’sthe new liveblog for 11th-16th December.
–Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
