Between the likes of Skate, Skate Story and OlliOlli World, we're in the midst of a renaissance of skateboarding games. Helskate looks like it's going in a different direction from many of them. It uses skateboarding as a foundation for monster slaying.

In this project from Phantom Coast, you'll make your way through the hellscape of Vertheim with arcade-style skating. You'll power up attacks by pulling off combos, and unlock abilities and buffs as you progress. Ultimately, you'll need to battle the Gods of Skating. You'll need to conquer a score challenge to defeat one and grind up another to target its weak points.

Since this is a roguelite, some progress will carry over when you die, but otherwise you'll be starting again. You'll be able to put together a unique build for each run by combining weapons, gear and tapes. Permanent ability upgrades come in the form of tattoos, which is a neat touch.

In case you're concerned that the skateboarding aspect might not live up to other titles in the genre, the fact that veteran designer Steve Swink is leading the team may sate your concerns. Swink has some previous experience in that domain, having designed one of the levels in Tony Hawk's Underground.

In any case, Helskate made a solid first impression. The action looks fast paced and it has some slick visuals. It brings to mind Hades as well as the fantastic Rollerdrome, which requires players to pull off rollerblading tricks to refill their ammo.

We'll need to wait a while longer to see if Helskate can meet the heady heights of those other games. It's slated to hit Steam early access in early 2024.

Summer Games Fest's final reveal was the sequel...est of all sequels: Final Fantasy VII Remake's second chapter, Rebirth. It will take Cloud, Aerith and the rest of the team beyond Midgar, and we got a glimpse and expanded areas for exploration, tapping into the power of the PS5. 

The start of the trailer, however, teases alternate timelines and events yet again, with the collapse of the expressway (the end of FF7: Remake) showing injured party members being stretchered onto helicopters, before returning to more familiar story beats for anyone who's played the original. 

We'll get flashbacks to Tifa and Cloud's reunion in the town of Kalm, where they both grew up, and more Sephiroth chewing up scenes with vague dialogue and gorgeous hair. We also see secondary antagonists, the Turks, with a full roster, ready to go three-on-three against your party. 

The most intriguing snippets were battles showing Cloud et al. able to collaborate with each other on their moves, upping the damage. It's something we saw in FF7R's DLC with Yuffie and her ally Sonan. The trailer also gave us the first glimpse of both Yuffie and Red XIII (the talking dog) duking it out alongside the rest of the party. The game has been delayed, to early 2024 now, but we now know it'll land on two discs — if that's any consolation.

Epic Games is about to decimate the Fortnite island once again. The battle royale's latest season, dubbed Fortnite Wilds, commences on June 9th, and a cinematic trailer debuted for it during Summer Game Fest Live.

This time around, Epic is revamping the island by collapsing the center of it to reveal a jungle. You'll be able to ride colorful velociraptors and explore ancient ruins. Mud and vines will play roles in the season as well. Somehow, all of that ties into a Transformers collaboration as Optimus Prime make an appearance. As it happens, a new Transformers movie is in theaters this week.

There's not much cohesion between the jungle theme and the latest crossover, but it doesn't really matter. Millions of people will rush to play the new season anyway. Besides, let's face it: tearing around the island on the back of a raptor while wearing an Optimus Prime skin could be fun.

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!

Indie game developer Land & Sea, the team behind Alto’s Adventure and Alto’s Odyssey, just announced a new title ahead of this year's Day of the Dev's showcase during Summer Games Fest. Summerhill is described as a “story-driven puzzle adventure game” that casts you as both a sheepherder and their intrepid canine companion.

If you’ve played the adorably zen Alto series you know what to expect on a vibe level. Summerhill leans hard on the pastoral setting, emphasizing chill puzzle solving at your own pace. The graphics recall the Alto series and other indie standouts like Monument Valley. To that end, the composer behind Monument Valley 2, Todd Baker, is here to deliver a “folk-inspired” soundtrack.

On the gameplay front, the dev promises “fluid herding-based gameplay” and “gentle problem-solving," along with a narrative mystery regarding the landscape’s ancient past. You’ll also be herding and corralling your sheep along with your trusty dog, all while honing skills to tackle “increasingly more complex puzzles.” The narrative is wordless but the dev promises it’s rife with "themes of duty, companionship and morality.”

“Summerhill is an entirely new IP that aims to build on the themes that we care about most as a studio,” writes Land & Sea founder Harry Nesbitt. “In many ways, sheep herding is in our DNA and we really wanted to do justice to this timeless tradition and tell a story that could only be told in this way.”

There’s no release date yet, as the title is currently in active development, but it’s far enough along for a trailer. This team has been busy lately. Some members, regrouped as Snowman Games, recently launched an exclusive title for Netflix.

Perhaps you feel that the Summer Game Fest Live and Day of the Devs events didn't include quite enough gaming news for one day. In that case, you're in luck, as Devolver Digital is rounding off the day's festivities with its own showcase.

You'll be able to watch the latest Devolver Direct below at 6PM ET. It's taking place on the same stream as the Summer Game Fest Live and Day of the Devs showcases, so you can scrub through the YouTube video timeline for even more announcements and trailers.

You can expect Devolver to get up to its usual offbeat antics in what's reliably one of the most entertaining events around this time of year. For this edition, Devolver is promising the "return of Volvy." You know, the publisher's long-standing mascot? The mouse-like creature with an oversized arm? The star of games such as Hotline Miami, Enter the Gungeon, Gris and Cult of the Lamb? Anyone? Despite Devolver's assertions that Volvy has been a cultural icon for over 30 years, the critter isn't actually real. Or maybe we've collectively erased him from our memories due to his various misdeeds. You know what you did, Volvy.

Anyway, Devolver has a heap of intriguing games in the pipeline and we should learn more about some of them during the stream. I have my fingers crossed for an update on Skate Story, which has been one of my most anticipated games since Devolver dropped an incredibly stylish announcement trailera year ago. Other upcoming games we may learn more about include Gunbrella (in which you have a firearm that's also an umbrella), Gris follow-up Neva, the striking action adventure title The Plucky Squire and The Talos Principle 2. The publisher is also promising new game announcements, while there should be an update on the Human: Fall Flat front.

We'll be bringing you news, previews and hands-on impressions from all the Summer Game Fest events in Los Angeles over the next several days. There's plenty more to come, including showcases from the likes of Xbox, Ubisoft and Capcom. Stay tuned to Engadget for all the latest.

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!

Sega's Japanese gangster series, Yakuza (or Like a Dragon), will continue in Like a Dragon 8, but the company also teased a separate title that would continue the story of the series' protagonist from the first six games. Yes, Kiryu Kazuma is back, but well, without the name. 

The laboriously named Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name will focus on Kiryu, who, having faked his death, is back on the mean, incredibly reflective streets of Japan. According to leaks earlier this week, will feature two fighting styles, including 'agent' techniques that appear to be both gadget-heavy and remind me a lot of Link's Ultrahand from what is probably the best game of 2023. Oh, and Spider-Man. In short, it's going to be very silly again.

Gaiden looks to be another traditional brawler, and it launches on November 9th 2023. If you're looking for more RPG-style gangster adventures, you'll have to wait for next year's Like A Dragon 8.

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!

Meta’s generative AI plans are starting to come into focus. Though the company hasn’t adopted much in the way of generative AI features yet, Mark Zuckerberg has made it clear he wants Meta to be viewed as one of the leaders in the field.

Now, Axios reports that at a companywide all-hands meeting this week, Zuckerberg laid out some of Meta’s plans in more detail. The CEO reportedly briefed employees on some of the ways Meta plans to put generative AI “into every single one of our products.”

The planned features include AI “agents” for WhatsApp and Messenger, something that Zuckerberg has discussed in the past. And while Axios reports that WhatsApp and Messenger may be first to get the feature, an early version of an AI chatbot was spotted in the Instagram app this week by app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi. Screenshots he shared indicated the app could have as many as 30 different “personalities” to choose from.

Also in the works, according to Axios: generative AI photo editing in Instagram. The feature would apparently allow users to edit their photos via text prompts and then share the images back to their Story. Zuckerberg has also recently discussed — during the company's most recent earnings call — post creation tools for Facebook, as well as for the platform’s advertisers.

It’s still unclear just how soon some of these features may launch, but it sounds like Zuckerberg is hoping to see them sooner than later. The company is also hoping employees will come up with some ideas for new generative AI features of their own and is reportedly hosting an internal hackathon to inspire potential new ideas.

From Halloween to The Thing, Christine to They Live, John Carpenter is a modern master of cinematic horror. During Summer Games Fest on Thursday, Focus Home Entertainment and Saber Interactive announced that his unique zompocalyptic vision will be coming to Xbox X|S, the Epic Games Store and Playstation 5 in 2024 with the release of John Carpenter's Toxic Commando.

The game's premise, based on the trailer that debuted on Thursday, is straightforward: you see a zombie, you shoot it until it stops twitching. The plot is equally nuanced, wherein an experiment seeking to draw energy from the Earth's core has instead unleashed an ambulatory zombie plague known as the Sludge God. Players will have to kill it and its unending army of undead monstrosities with an array of melee, edged and ranged weapons, and special abilities. Get ready to rock out with your Glock out because the enemies will be coming at you in hordes. 

A firm release date has not yet been set, however the studio did announce that there will be a closed beta offered ahead of its release. If you want to get in on the undead butchery ahead of time, sign up for PC on the on the beta website. 

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!

Sony revealed the launch date for Spider-Man 2 at Summer Games Fest 2023. The PS5 exclusive arrives on October 20th, a date Insomniac’s Brian Horton says the team is “very confident” standing behind.

The sequel to the 2018 original has Peter Parker and Miles Morales teaming up with GTA V-style character-switching. A gameplay trailer at last month’s PlayStation Showcase revealed Parker’s Spider-Man wearing the black Symbiote (Venom) Suit while showing a glimpse of the requisite power and poor judgment that go with the territory.

In addition to the release date, Insomniac announced that pre-orders will open on June 16th at 10am local time. In addition, those who pre-order will receive “an early unlock Arachknight Suit for Peter with 3 additional color variants, an early unlock Shadow Spider Suit for Miles with 3 additional color variants, an early unlock Web Grabber gadget, and 3 skill points.”

“In the open world, you will be able to switch nearly instantly between [Peter and Miles} as you explore Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn,” Insomniac’s James Stevenson wrote in a blog post. “Both Spider-Men have stories and missions in the world exclusive to each of them.”

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!

Alan Wake II is finally happening, as the long-awaited sequel is set to arrive in October. Remedy creative director Sam Lake made an appearance at Summer Game Fest Live to reveal more details and show off some new gameplay.

Remedy's first survival horror game has two lead characters. Newcomer Saga Anderson, an FBI agent, is joining Alan Wake this time. Lake revealed that there will be a 50-50 split between each character's story. You'll start the game as Saga and have the choice to switch between her and Alan at certain points throughout the game.

Saga and her partner travel to a small town in the Pacific Northwest to "investigate a series of ritualistic murders," Lake said. However, their mission becomes a living horror story that may or may not have been crafted by a certain writer.

The gameplay Lake showed off is from an early sequence. It centers around supernatural forces resurrecting a murder victim as a monster that Saga has to battle. The clip opens with her walking through some woods and an abandoned building with the help of her trusty flashlight before she encounters said beast. The footage (which was followed by a short trailer) looks appropriately spooky. Remedy tossed in a couple jump scares for good measure.

You'll be able to find out for yourself just how scary Alan Wake II truly is soon enough. It's coming to Xbox Series X, PS5 and PC via the Epic Games Store on October 17th.

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!