---
title: 'The end of Bioware and the threat of $1800 next-gen consoles | This Week in Videogames'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=kzJrvNv3wBE'
video_id: 'kzJrvNv3wBE'
date: 2026-10-23
duration_sec: 2269
channel: 'Skill Up'
---

# The end of Bioware and the threat of $1800 next-gen consoles | This Week in Videogames

> Source: [The end of Bioware and the threat of $1800 next-gen consoles | This Week in Videogames](https://youtube.com/watch?v=kzJrvNv3wBE)

## Summary

This week's video covers major industry news, including the closure of BioWare by EA, significant price hikes for next-generation consoles from Xbox and Sony, and a surge in AI-related controversies. It also touches on indie developer concerns about AI cloning, a new Xbox Game Pass model, and a review of several new game releases.

### Key Points

- **Opening and Sponsor** [00:01] — EA announced the closure of BioWare, ending the studio behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age, effective with a blog post.
- **EA's Strategic Blueprint** [01:31] — EA detailed its future strategy, focusing on big franchises like Battlefield and Star Wars, and canceling a Sims mobile title.
- **BioWare Officially Shut Down** [03:06] — EA's blog post formally announced the end of Mass Effect development at BioWare and the studio's closure.
- **BioWare's Decline Analyzed** [04:59] — BioWare's decline is attributed to failures like Anthem and Dragon Age: Inquisition, which were underwhelming compared to earlier successes.
- **Next-Gen Xbox Price Revealed** [07:41] — Reports suggest the next Xbox (Helix) could cost $1,200-$1,800, partly due to memory prices and tariffs.
- **New Xbox Game Pass Model** [09:38] — Xbox is shifting to a more pass-based Game Pass model, with tiers giving access to specific content libraries.
- **Xbox Exclusivity Survey Leak** [10:55] — A leaked survey asks about making Xbox games exclusive, including traditionally multiplatform titles.
- **PS6 Costs Could Exceed $1000** [13:38] — Sony's next console could cost over $1000, with RAM and SSD alone costing $680.
- **AI PR Missteps by Xbox** [14:56] — An Xbox employee's public pro-AI stance creates controversy, but aligns with Xbox Labs' new division.
- **AI Fears Halt Indie Demos** [16:17] — Indie developers are canceling public demos due to fears of AI clones, leading to more secretive development.
- **GTA 6's Development Marathon** [17:22] — GTA 6's long development is attributed to pandemic delays, leadership indecision, and high ambition, with a doubled team size.
- **Control: Resident's Success** [20:57] — Control: Resident is the fastest-selling game in Remedy's history, with 1 million copies sold.
- **No Man's Sky Mobile Announcement** [21:22] — No Man's Sky is coming to iOS, with the full game optimized for older iPhones.
- **Fire Emblem DLC Announced** [22:02] — Nintendo announced additional DLC for Fire Emblem: Fortune Weave, including weapons and a larger story expansion.
- **Helldivers 2 Free DLC** [22:30] — Sony shadow-dropped SOS Zenith, a free DLC for Helldivers 2, adding new modes like boss rush.
- **Release Date Roundup** [23:11] — Various release dates announced for new games, including Phantom Blade Zero, Guns of Echeton, and 007 First Light.
- **Rainbow 6 Mobile Shutdown** [24:21] — Ubisoft's Rainbow 6 Mobile is shutting down on January 15th next year, after less than a year of global launch.
- **Enshrouded 1.0 Reviews** [24:57] — Enshrouded receives positive Steam reviews after its 1.0 release, with praise for its building and exploration mechanics.
- **Ratatan's Mixed Reception** [25:38] — Ratatan's reviews are mixed, with fans of Patapon feeling the release feels underwhelming despite good visuals.
- **Remasters Perform Well** [26:30] — Toy Story 3 Complete and Retro Roundup both received positive Steam reviews after remastered launches.
- **Horror Game's Glowing Reviews** [26:45] — The horror game received high reviews, with praise for its plot, puzzles, and pacing.
- **Penguin Colony's Unique Appeal** [27:38] — Penguin Colony is praised as one of 2026's boldest, most original games, with a unique perspective.
- **Stupid Never Dies's Reviews** [28:18] — The Stupid action game received mixed reviews, with some critics calling it the worst game of 2026.
- **Fantasy Resonance's Success** [28:45] — Fantasy Resonance received strong reviews with 85+ scores, praised for its HD 2D art style and combat.
- **Switch Sports Resort Reviews** [29:40] — Switch Sports Resort reviews are mostly positive, with Eurogamer calling it a gem.
- **COD 2026's Release** [30:20] — COD 2026 releases on October 23rd, with a well-received single-player campaign.
- **One Piece Grand Gourmet Preview** [30:46] — One Piece Grand Gourmet, a restaurant management sim, is coming to multiple platforms.
- **Virtue and a Sledgehammer** [31:26] — Virtue and a Sledgehammer is a third-person action game with a sledgehammer, releasing on PC only.
- **Something in the Shade** [31:51] — Something in the Shade is a farming simulator set in rural Japan, with English release coming.
- **Ports and Remasters** [32:19] — Kotor is on mobile, and Wolf Among Us Remastered is delayed on Switch.
- **Monster Hunter Outlanders** [32:45] — Monster Hunter Outlanders is a new mobile game with co-op, coming to iOS and Android.
- **Crimson Desert's Expansion** [33:23] — Crimson Desert's Unknown expansion adds oceans and sharks, expanding the RPG's world.
- **Phantom Blade Zero Launch** [33:50] — Phantom Blade Zero, with Donnie Yen involved, is a major release with 30 primary weapons.
- **Ballistic.exe Demo Noticed** [34:49] — Ballistic.exe is a detailed FPS sim with complex gun mechanics, featured in Steam NextFest.
- **Ben Affleck's Starcraft Confession** [36:09] — Ben Affleck reveals he spent three years playing Starcraft at the height of his fame.

## Transcript

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video. And now, let's get to it. Gamers got to say this week's news is pretty bleeer than the shuddering of one of the most storied developers in video games history, Boware. The news post came by way of an official blog post from EA,
corporate word salad, probably written by AI or someone akin to it. It set out a blueprint for the now Saudi owned EA that was eerily similar to the blueprint put out by Xbox boss Ashama. Focus on the big franchises, shut down everything
To that end, EA declared that Battlefield 6 was a big success and the Battlefield franchise while also teasing that Respawn and DICE would be on that is that they're actually working on Star Wars Battlefront 3, which isn't
is that there are rumors that Bungie would also be engaged as a co-developer, don't have time to address that right now, especially since that rumor is far from confirmed. EA did commit to getting the next Star Wars Jedi game out the
game, but beyond that, they deliberately kept expectations in check, saying, quote, "Beyond that, we will concentrate our efforts on fewer simultaneous every game we build in this space is fully set up for success." End quote. I
think that's code for don't expect more of these games in the future since EA sees these projects as inherently risky given their big budgets and their low potential for ongoing monetization. On the sports side, you can expect more
the lifestyle category, as they're calling it, EA announced that they were canceling one Sims title rumored to be a mobile game while continuing to invest mainline Sims offering. The Skate Team is also getting downsized so that it can
do a better job or something. PR propaganda really reaching all new least the studio will continue in some form, albeit a reduced one. And that of this announcement, the cancellation of the upcoming Mass Effect game and the
closure of Boware. Here's how EA marked the end of one of the most important focus on these larger opportunities, we've had a small team at Boware working on early development for Mass Effect. We've made the decision to not move
means we're closing the studio and our Edmonton workspace. Boware is a role- playinging genre, and we do not take this decision lightly." End quote. That was it. Five lines in a blog post marking the end of Boware, the studio
Neverwinter Knights, Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Jade Empire, and Dragon Age. A truly legendary portfolio that few other studios can lay claim to. Now, a legacy firmly in our rearview mirror
been much said about this decision, blaming EA's leverage buyout and the $18 carrying. The argument goes that if EA had not been bought out and bought out and the next Mass Effect game would still be in development. And look, maybe
that's true. It certainly doesn't help that new management is doubling down on portfolio and cutting costs. Honestly though, I kind of knew this was coming announced because I just couldn't see a world in which EA could afford to put
$300 million into an offline non-monetized singleplayer game based on a legacy IP. That just was never going to happen sadly. But multiple things can Boware been consistently putting out excellent games for the past generation,
the ramifications of this acquisition. considered to be the last great game that Bware released and that was 2014. Inquisition, but it was a game of the year winner and it did have some great
values and the DLC was surprisingly excellent. It wasn't perfect, but it was a solid boware game that deserved its flowers. Then came the decline. 2017's flowers. Then came the decline. 2017's Mass Effect Andromeda was fine, like the
against what was inarguably gaming's greatest sci-fi trilogy, Fine just blow to the studio. The Haymaker, though, was 2019's Anthem, a game of such catastrophic failure that we still vividly remember it to this day. It was
the poster child for the live service looter shooter gold rush where every own Destiny killer with none of them having any idea just how all consuming that sort of game would be to make and how borderline impossible it would be to
maintain. Worse still this was Boware making a game that they had no business their strengths and they were further hamstrung by the inappropriateness of the Frostbite engine since EA's leadership insisted the game be made
leadership is also to blame for at least some of the issues surrounding Dragon actually started out as a live service co-op action game before pivoting to an offline singleplayer RPG after how badly Anthem failed, that did allow the team
areas. But the game still bears its live service scars with its fractured game Still, I do think there's a world where Valgard scrapes by despite its issues, if it was brilliantly written, but it was not at all. But I hardly think it's
since enough ink has been spilled on that topic since release. So that's over 12 years of Boware releasing three underperformers on the trot with two of them being pretty spectacular failures in the modern era when games cost this
much to make. You barely get one flop before your studio is shut down. To have do hate to say it, but the writing was on the wall for Boware no matter who was in charge. Bowway's ending is deeply saddening because it puts a full stop on
one of gaming's most important stories. The story of a studio who imagined, defined, expanded, and refined what RPGs could be, both on the PC and on to fall long ago, but with it fully down now, it gives us a moment to reflect on
gaming. I mean, you don't get The Witcher 3 without Dragon Age. You don't 2. Right now, there are like four different Mass Effect spiritual hoping to capture the magic of those incredible games. Star Wars: The Old
small but enduring MMO with some of the best storytelling in the MMO genre. You sure as hell don't get a Night of the Old Republic remake without the original Cotor. And that's in development right now over at Saber Interactive. Point is,
while their doors may be closing, I think they'll continue to loom large in touched us in the past and all the ways their games will inspire future game makers for many, many years to come. Let's move on from that DA news now and
next generation of consoles. And what could be more exciting than hearing that expensive that we're going to need to take out a third mortgage just to get one. Sadly, I'm only half joking because this week a profile on Asher Sharma from
annual projections for the cost of their next console code named Helix currently next console code named Helix currently sit at an eyewatering estimate of $1,200 to $1,800. Now, obviously, we know that platform
subsidized the cost on their consoles in order to get the jump on market share with the plan to make up their shortfall through software sales, and Fortune estimates are pre-subsidization. But here's the thing about the subsidized
business model. It only makes sense in the walled garden ecosystem because you can guarantee that you make your money from platform fees and taking a cut of said that their next device is essentially a PC running Windows and
storefronts on it. I've been using the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 for the past few guess how many games I bought from the Xbox storefront in that time? None. So,
console if people are going to be able to buy stuff from Steam or the Epic Game way. Nobody's buying anything from the Epic Game Store. A console north of $1,000 does sound ludicrous, and it is, but it's largely down to the realities
through right now, where most of the memory being produced in the world is centers and the like, leaving anything left over to be sold at ridiculous prices. Digital storage is also going through very similar issues. And then
like tariffs to consider, which also bump up the price. Even Xbox's main competition, the PS5 Pro, is currently 900 US bucks at retail, up $200 from providing you can get your hands on one of these things, let alone at the
you seen what GameStop are charging for secondhand consoles? Other bits out of statements Char has made several times now where she said that Project Helix is devices. Fortune says Xbox is planning to release a new nextG dedicated
handheld device in time for holiday 2027 and then the nextG console proper will lineup apparently isn't the only thing that Xbox will be shaking up as getting a major overhaul. The service will move from the tiered structure
giving you specific benefits designated to a given price point to a much more pass will still include tiers, but within those tiers, players will be able which would then impact the overall price of the service. Some of the
gaming, multiplayer, and console only games. And there has previously been chatter about an adup supported tier as well. Xbox has already been testing adup program for a while now. I wonder what else they can portion out. Day one,
first party exclusives. Maybe we'll have to wait until Clockwork Revolution if In Exile even exists that far into the future, as the last bit of news from to people familiar with the plans, the next batch of Xbox layoffs in the
companywide reset will happen in October and November of this year, as well as January of next year. This follows the existing rounds of 260 employees hit in September, as well as the 1,600 employees that went immediately in July
studios will be affected or how many employees will lose their jobs in each numbers lead up to the 3,200 layoffs promised from July 2026 to July 2027. see. Coming back to that question of the thousand plus console, it's an
but it's even harder when you aren't offering any exclusives, which is Xbox's default strategy right now since eay and Clockwork Revolution are exceptions to be changing as Windows Central has obtained a series of screenshots from a
recent survey sent out to members of the Xbox Insider program which asks how way harder to exclusive games on their systems. One of the questions asked, all future titles released from every Xbox developed gaming franchise except
Call of Duty will be console exclusive to Xbox. For Minecraft only, existing purchase on PlayStation or Nintendo consoles and would not receive any new impact to any of the existing titles or content you already own. Nothing changes
The survey then asked players to identify where they would play these console, PC, or skipping it because they wouldn't be available on their platform of choice. The same question was also asked for traditionally multiplatform
Kajjima Productions upcoming espionage title Fizzen, which recently set up shop again under Xbox's banner after starting its life as a PlayStation exclusive and Hol. That second question is much more interesting. I mean, you would assume
simulators would be no-brainer exclusives. But taking incredibly Elder Scrolls or Doom away from as many players as possible seems like a very dent in the audiences for those games. But big swings are clearly part of the
though, I could totally see them keeping that to themselves because this already doesn't want to play the game that sees the father of espionage action returning get the hardcore fan base on board? Of course, nothing confirmed yet. And
temperature and see what titles would work under pure exclusivity for Xbox, exclusive window like we see Sony do, and which would be better left early days, lots of questions to be asked, but clearly Xbox are thinking
itself. They may also be thinking about keeping physical games in the mix, which sense given how much hate Sony is getting for their move. This news also comes out of Windows Central who spotted that Xbox are hiring an Xbox games
to quote coordinate the launch of physical Xbox games across all platforms lead development and oversee execution of global supply positioning strategies across all stages of the product life cycle end quote. Okay, so yes, they said
physical Xbox games. They did not say discs. GTA 6 is technically launching as a box product when it releases next month, but that box only contains a code chance that Xbox could be taking the same approach. There's also the Nintendo
you a physical thing to put in your console. It just doesn't have any game but it is interesting to see Xbox seemingly want to continue investing in moving forward. If you listen to all that Xbox pricing stuff and went, "Thank
worry about my end of the pasture." Think again. Your next Sony console could also cost you over $1,000. Known hardware leaker Kepler 2 has been hanging around NeoA this past weekend claiming that the cost of RAM and SSD
alone for the next Sony console will cost the company $680. in March of this year, the entire console would supposedly only cost $760 to make with the cumulative price tag rising to $960 in July with this newest
claimed the price of the whole console would probably clear $1,000 easily with into consideration. The difference with Sony though is that they are very very incentivized to sell their hardware at a loss so they can make their money back
spending revenue. Ain't no way you're going to be able to install Steam on the PS6. So every dollar spent on the PSN is 30 cents to Sony HQ. Now that gives them a huge amount of freedom to aggressively price this device to steal market share
from Xbox. At the same time, Microsoft has the infinite money glitch enabled. fire, they could eat the loss and compete on their own terms. But given decision-making these days, I think a move like that is highly unlikely.
Bottom line though, whether it's Xbox or Sony, I think the current generation of exceptionally long shelf life. All the more so if it ends up being the last discbased generation since many gamers really do value their physical media,
weren't. So, cutting over to some AI talk now. And remember last week when I and that companies are going to be speaking about AI very differently from now on. where one Xbox employee was inspired and took his enthusiasm to the
one place where regret is mass-produced. Twitter Brandon Stirrup is or perhaps Microsoft who's been with the company for 10 years working on Microsoft 365, Azure, and Xbox. Here he is after co-pilot told him it was a good idea for
him to get this off his chest. Quote, "Gaming is the only industry pretending industry where leaders are afraid to talk about AI. Users want the truth. We're using AI. My goal is to get this over with so we can move on as a company
despite the fact that some will persecute me for this. We use AI just as all companies do in 2026. I'm happy to take the hit if it means hundreds at not using AI. It's time to accept and move forward. If I'm fired tomorrow, it
that nobody wants you to know. You can make a game with a simple prompt. And yes, you can make custom tailored games. Everything you want in a game is right worse. If you're a game developer refusing to believe that AI has a place
in your future, you should not be in the business of being a business. There's no point in a 5 to 10 year plan absent AI in 2026, everything you plan for will be superseded. You're planning for a fake future. End quote. Stirup has since
Gamer suggesting that it was because of the quote volume of replies he was he's technically not wrong because this comes after Xbox announced Xbox Labs to look into the whole rapid decompiling and non-native port scene, but notably
announcement, as though we wouldn't notice. Meanwhile, we're getting wind of increasingly wary of doing anything with their games before they're actually out coding and decompiling. Two indie developers this week canceled scheduled
because of fears that their demos would be quickly deconstructed and replicated for a quick buck through clone games and copycats long before they would be able their games. The developers in questions include Digital Sun, best known for
Cataclysmo, who have made the public play test for their next game a vampire themed riff on Tower Defense private to their Discord. Clone and copycat games been on literally any digital storefront lately? But they can now be spun up far
more rapidly and with very little effort thanks to AI vibe coding tools. Digital Steam to quote, "Keep strengthening protections for original work so studios games early. For indie games, that's how we get seen and find the fans who keep
think that we're going to get fewer demos and more secretive game development processes because of how effective AI is at ripping off another developers for being more cautious in this brave new world. Quick lightning
GTA 6 is still poised to be the biggest media launch of all time, it did take 8 years to make a massive timeline that according to a senior developer at titles. Jason One take Shrier published a behind-the-scenes feature over at
development cycle was due to the pandemic halting certain aspects of indecision because there were three people heading up development and the levels of ambition the game had. No confirmation on the budget aside from
the fact that it costs less to make than the Burj Khalifa cost to build. The building in Dubai, which reportedly cost $1.5 billion, but we did get this wild tidbit that Rockstar had 2,441 employees when Red Dead Redemption 2
launched. And as of August 2026, it now has 4,711 will continue to be at Rockstar after GTA 6 ships. Ubisoft are continuing to make big cuts at its studios amid its
proposing the closure of Red Links, the folks behind the excellent trial series, 70 layoffs at Black Flag Reync developer Ubisoft Singapore, and about 100 people responsible for their strategy series like Ano and the Settlers. Meanwhile,
Christopher Sunberg, is closing after releasing the ill- fated action game bankrupt and unable to pay its employees with Sunberg later confirming that the better on consoles than it did on PC, but it wasn't enough to save the studio.
for the game by some means. Onto another struggling indie studio. Now, we're who scrapped another major release just this week. After calling time on their fighting game 2X KO after 10 years of development and less than a year in
Legends Classic, which clearly did not work out for them in the same way that This thing came out in July and will be gone in January 2027 due to low who is playing Classic eventually went back to play regular League. Anyone
get refunds and that's the end of that chapter. In a win for the vocal minority of Ace Combat fans on PC, Bandai Namco has finally agreed to release the Steam port of Ace Combat Zero, which was a pre-order bonus for Ace Combat 8 as a
complaints. Folks were very angry about this as it meant they had to hypothetically install over 130 GB of data just to play the port and launch it from the Ace Combat 8 executable. Well, no longer. Speaking of releases gone
Shogun 2 stuff? Sega released a complete edition port of the excellent grand but it sure as hell did not go down too well. On Steam, the game hit overwhelmingly negative very quickly on account of bugs, poor mod support, and
AI to upscale some of the assets. The optics for this were even worse due to the fact that Sega removed the original game from Steam. Both companies issued a not where it needs to be and have pulled it from sale now. Though, if you bought
really want to. If you really really wanted to play Big Walk, however, and afraid you're out of luck. House House, the Australian indie game studio behind contender, put out a public statement last week addressing questions about an
Xbox port. Basically, it's not coming because House is adhering to the Palestinian BDS movement, which stands for boycott, divestment, and sanctions, Xbox since early 2025. Pointing to Microsoft's involvement in providing
government. House House says, quote, "We would love for all people to be able to play the game on Xbox, but not until Microsoft and/or Xbox have been removed decision with the belief that meaningful change can be made in the world, a
confront even the most powerful interest, and that one day Palestine will be free." End quote. Hard cut now to some lighter news and some good news Studio has announced that Control Resident has sold 1 million copies in
officially the fastest selling game in the studio's history. The first controller sold over 6 million copies to date. So quite a ways for Resident to go then just know this game absolutely rules. So do give it a look if you enjoy
playing a video game with intent and style. Starring a weird dude who has but we love him anyway. So what got announced or delayed this week? Well, through it. First up, No Man's Sky developer Hello Games continue to baffle
effort they're putting into No Man's Sky 10 years later. This week they had a would be bringing the game to iOS of all places which supposedly stem from one of could get this running on an iPhone while doing a port for Mac. It's
apparently the full game more or less. No multiplayer or settlements on day one very mega 5 GB. And craziest of all, it's been optimized to run on older phones as well, all the way back to the iPhone 11. Seriously, kudos to these
finally priced out of consoles and PCs, they'll all be hanging out in No Man's handme-down iPhones. I bet that's a problem for tomorrow, though. Meanwhile, Another surprise announcement last week for another game that feels like it goes
on forever. Fire Emblem Fortune Weave. Man, Nintendo just released this one, people have not properly finished this yet, myself included. But Nintendo just expansion pass to give us all a kick up the ass. It involves three pieces of DLC
the first drop giving you access to weapons based on the main houses of containing additional allies coming later and a big story expansion coming in 2027. Plenty of time to keep grinding that perfect bird time. Am I right? If
now, this time from Sony, who shadow drops SOS Zenith, the free DLC for shooter, which adds more challenging modes like a boss rush as well as a got things like gameplay slowdown here in case you felt like the game was still
course. This next one's not so much of a surprise since we had some idea it was controller, a very tiny one called the Xbox Nano Controller. It's designed to fit in your pocket and be used for things like Xbox cloud gaming or mobile
on consoles or PCs as well if you happen to have very tiny hands or are a small manufacturers have already been doing this kind of stuff for a while now, so market for this sort of thing. A quick speedrun of release dates now. Out on
from Annaperna Interactive. This one is a minimalist procedural arcade game Annaperna, there has to be some weirdly deep emotional hook to it. All platforms Games put a date on their martial arts action game which looks like Sleeping
Acts of Blood. It's got a release date for 4th of December on PC only. Console ports to come in 2027. Guns of Echeton is one we're quite intrigued by. It's a promoted as the last game that the late Victor Antonov worked on. He was the art
director for Halfife 2 and Dishonored. This one comes out on December 8th, 2026 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles. Finally, IO Interactive has given the Switch 2 port for 007 First Light a release date after delaying it. It's now
which is almost a year after the original release. Funny story, Ed this one on Switch 2 at PAX Australia a few weeks ago. And he said that at first good. A bit muddy past a certain distance, but it ran well and kept the
all of a sudden, he got stuck in a soft lock loop where Bond would keep falling And Nintendo reps asked him to leave so they could take the console out the back happen. He was just making [ __ ] up, but I don't know. I'll get back to you.
one shutdown worth mentioning this week, and that's for Ubisoft's Rainbow 6 Mobile, which the company said it would be ending service for January 15th next that just come out?" Then you'd be right. It launched globally in February
of this year after being in beta since 2022. An unsurprising story given live server shooters, including on mobile, where not even Apex Legends or COD War Zone could survive the dominance of the regular COD Mobile. But yeah,
cases. All right, so what came out last week? Well, let's check in on some of Enshrouded, the survival action RPG that's all about setting yourself up in the world and then diving into endless endgame style dungeons, either solo or
there was one. He's not alone, by the way. Around 2,600 reviews have popped up since the game hit 1.0. 81% of them giving it the thumbs up, which puts it existing player base has come out in full force to support this one at
boasting hundreds of hours in the game. Here's Steam user Tactical Girl, who someone who's not big on survival games, but does love RPG action adventure combining both into a satisfying game you just want to keep playing. There's
explore. The building and terraforming make my Minecraft loving heart happy. this game, and you can tell." End quote. Not quite the same story for Ratatan, last week. This is the rhythm strategy game from the developers who originally
and branched out to try to make something similar. The team behind this its early access launch and delayed the game to try to address some of the issues. But sadly, about 200 of the reviews since launch are mixed, just 40%
the reviews are disappointed Patapon lovers and Kickstart baggers who perhaps sequel, but wholehearted admirers are hard to find here. Here's one of the few sense of how things stand. It came from Steam user Tup after 40 hours with the
someone who had early access and has been following the updates, the release feels relatively underwhelming. Would I recommend the game to a Patapon fan? I'm semi on the fence about it, leading towards yes. The artwork and visuals are
content just feels very limited. Not the Patapon was a long game or anything, but this game right now feels lackluster. End quote. Moving on to those Toy Story Story 3 Complete and Retro Roundup. Both of them seem to have done quite well,
Critic, they're both sitting on fair averages with 67 and 74, respectively, original games themselves. on Steam. Both sit out very positive after about 400 reviews for Toy Story 3 and 120 for Retro Roundup. So, if you are looking to
should feel relatively okay in doing so with these remasters. Next up, survival horror game from New Blood that mixes 2D gameplay with terrifying liveaction cutscenes. Did you read the feature on this week invidames.com? Like
this game is great. On Open Critic, it's landed at a mighty 85 and a very positive sentiment on Steam after 700 reviews, 94% of them positive. Here's Steam user, Menace Factory, who gushed about a quote, "The plot is ridiculously
effortlessly cool. Some of the puzzles are outstanding and incredibly touching The whole thing is glorious. Not too fond of the cast and their performances, camp, but the game itself, the plot, the puzzles, enemies, the sound, the
visuals, top-notch. I've loved loved this. A future classic." End quote. Oh, which is the unique adaptation of HP Lovecraft's at the mountains of madness, Thing and is seen through the eyes of ambivalent penguins. No open critic
on Metacritic and a very positive sentiment on Steam after about 150 difficult it is to get into it at first due to the jank, but it has clearly left it. The Guardian reviewed this one and gave it four out of five stars and had
this advice to impart. quote, "Penguin Colony, one of 2026's boldest, most original games, is far bigger than it first lets on. To access all of its one must think and act less like a human mainlining toward their objective. On
spirit of a renegade penguin, waddling carefree towards whatever piques your End quote. Taking a look now at Stupid action game from a former Capcom producer at his new studio. A fair 70
range of scores from 4 out of 10 to 10 out of 10. Polygon notably gave this a scathing review calling it quote easily the worst game of 2026 and quote but the vast majority of reviews have settled on that 7 out of 10 mark. Push Square for
Stupid Never Dies is an acquired taste but its lurid aesthetic and unhinged personality in a crowded market. As a rogike it's got a good power curve and back. Although sometimes its systems and narrative can get in the way of letting
Fantasy Resonance now and you know what? But for an adaptation of a free-to-play that this has landed so well. A Mighty 85 and Open Critic with scores ranging from 6 out of 10 all the way up to 10 out of 10 based on over 70 reviews. IGN
saying, quote, "Resonance is special for how it wields HD 2D as an art style to well beyond nostalgia. It's the flare system more satisfying when beating down a staggered boss. and it's what paints
explore, especially when a superb soundtrack backs up each moment before Although I'm left underwhelmed by pieces of the storytelling itself, I'm glad Final Fantasy Resonance exists to revive Brave Exius, but also to show that old
bar in more ways than one. End quote. Meaning now on Nintendo Switch Sports motion controlled sports collection, this one has also fared relatively well, reviews largely hitting that seven or eight out of 10 mark. Euro Gamer scored
quote, "Grumbles aside, though, Switch Sports Resort is a bit of a gem. It's yet, bundling a bunch of genuine crowd-pleasers in a charmingly package that's equally suited to online and solo play. It's perfectly timed to
festivities set in. But the biggest surprise for me is how easily it slipped myself firing it up for a quick blast of or hitting the golf green when I'm in a more laid-back frame of mind." End
quote. Sounds lovely. you won't catch me playing golf either IRL or virtually. talking. Okay, so what's coming out this week? Well, I guess we'll kick things which technically releases on Friday, October 23rd for all platforms,
have been a bunch of people out there playing it already, given that anyone got early access to the single player campaign as well as the DMZ Extraction mode ahead of launch. Streets are saying that this campaign is pretty damn good.
on an 8 out of 10. We'll revisit this one next week though after people have out on October 23rd. Look no further than One Piece Grand Gourmet, a restaurant management simulator based on the insanely popular anime put out by
Now, if the name Kyrosoft doesn't ring a bell, they're a very small Japanese little game called GameDev Story on iOS and Android back in 2010, which was a about running an indie game studio. It was a huge hit at the time. And
an insane number of different mobile management games since. And this One licensed title. This one's coming to PC, PS5, Switch, iOS, and Android. Jumping 27th, we've got yet another one from Deolver Digital. They released two
shooters in the past two weeks in the form of Bolt Gun 2 and the 1.0 of Micropunk. And this week, they've got a smashing game. Virtue and a Sledgehammer Deconstruct team, who have put out quite a few narrative heavy games with
more action to it, and that it's a third-person game where you're wielding a sledgehammer, and you need to plow your way through buildings and robots as through your player character's past and the trauma that that brings up. A
one PC only for this one. For something in the Shade. This is a farming simulator set in a rural Japanese known for their long-running disguise strategy JRPG series, among other
Steam since July, but only in Japanese. 900 reviews. Very positive though with Should hopefully be a good indication of what you're getting yourself into. The English version is releasing for PC, PS5, and both Switches. On Wednesday the
Rogike FPS Sulphura, which we mentioned last week, but it's Thursday the 29th, per usual, there are a couple of notable ports and remasters. To kick things off, Court is making itself known again ahead of the game of the year discussions by
Switches, as well as iOS and Android, where it seems like it would make a lot mechanics. Meanwhile, The Wolf Among Us Remastered, which revives the excellent release on all platforms Switch. The Switch version has been delayed. The
on to make Dispatch, by the way, so if you haven't played this yet, be sure to sickos who just can't get enough of it, you might care about Monster Hunter Outlanders coming to iOS and Android. It keeps the exploration, hunting, and
crafting of the series as well as co-op for four players. It obviously brings in model like various currencies and battle passes and gatcher and all that sort of stuff. It's being developed by 10 cent subsidiary Timmy Studio who have said in
through currencies you can obtain through regular play. And you should be adventure stuff without spending any money. But obviously keep your wits diving in. Tell you what though, Monster Hunter may have some large monsters and
an even larger world. But Crimson Desert probably still has it beat. Even more so Unknown, which is one of the big headliners for Thursday, coming out expands the already enormous RPG from Pearl Abyss with explorable oceans,
swimming with goddamn sharks. It also adds a bunch of new enemies, changes to just in case it wasn't already a forever Series consoles for this one. And finally, the big one to cap off the next
seven days is Phantom Blade Zero, the very impressive looking martial arts developer Sgame. Getting the feeling like this is China's next major global Phantom Blade Zero has also roped in the creative involvement and performance of
legendary martial artist and actor Donny Yen aka Kain in the John Wick series. combat. As you'd expect, they're boasting 30 different primary weapons cool-looking subw weapons which you obtain by defeating bosses, the
social media hyping this up in the leadup to launch. Notably getting quite declared that absolutely everything in this game was handcrafted and the studio a notable stance in a region that has otherwise embraced generative AI pretty
readily. Anyway, Phantom Blade Zero is coming to PS5 and PC. I'm currently in the way. So, if you are keen, then make sure to subscribe to the channel and hit up the moment that review is live. Steam NextFest is currently happening and
there are like 7,000 demos in this latest offering. How many of them are AI aside, we've been playing through a bunch of demos, but here's just one that bunch of demos, but here's just one that stood out. So, put this on your radar.
try your best to fire a gun properly. Plenty of games let you pull the trigger and do fancy reloads, of course, but Ballistic.exe Exie revels in the complicated, stupidly meticulous steps required to actually get to the point of
pulling a trigger and hitting a target. You need to manually manipulate the gun, check your intended target with a spotting machine, bring the gun to your face, manipulate the sights on both the back and the front to alter your firing
and wind direction, hold your breath, pull the trigger, and pray that you hit rogue light that starts you off with a shitty pistol, releases you onto a to try to pull off until you run out of ammo if you remembered to bring ammo at
in your successful challenges and upgrade your firearm piece by piece. I'm triggers, grips, muzzles, scopes, hammers, the whole lot. And like all of these games, there might be something messed up going on in the overworld.
an old school Apple operating system? I don't know, but it looks super cool. I'm XC has a broad release date of 2027, but the demo is of course available to you look of this one, we've actually left a link to it over on our Steam Cura page,
Put this on your radar stuff we've recently covered. I'll leave a link to fifth story of the week is of the celebrity variety, and it's a reminder that no matter how famous you are or how many Jennifers you marry or remarry, you
nothing more real than playing video games when you should be doing other things. Things like being Ben Affleck at the height of his fame. Here he is on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast talking about how he spent his time immediately
>> I mean, there was a game called Starcraft that probably took the most life out of me for a period of time like where I did and I had like just got famous and all I did was stay home for three years and play Starcraft.
>> Unavail due to Starcraft. >> Yeah. Uh although like I love, you know, Valerant's a great game. It's a great game. The problem with that game is that I just with kids that have been raised like playing I just get [ __ ] rocked.
>> Ah, he just like me for real except he's buff, rich, handsome, and Batman. But Starcraft 1 v1. Ben, if you are watching, send me your battle net, am going to play Starcraft, it's not going to be anytime soon because I'm
of it I can talk about, like Phantom Blade Zero. Some of it I can't talk about. And no, it's not GTA. God, I wish it were GTA. There is cool stuff on the that's the best way to make sure you don't miss an upload. The new show
putting it together. We hope you like it too. And if you do, then be sure to hit We're not above that. Okay, that's it. We're all done. Have a great week. Thanks again for watching. Take care of yourselves and bye-bye.