CD Projekt Red has released another entry in its series of The Witcher games. The studio is billingGwent: Rogue Mage as a single-player expansion for Gwent, but it's sold separately. It's out today on PC, iOS and Android for $10. A $20 premium edition comes with perks for Gwent.

Rogue Mage was announced earlier this year under the working title of Project Golden Nekker. It takes place hundreds of years before the birth of Witcher protagonist Geralt of Rivia. You'll play as the mage Alzur, who is attempting to create the very first witcher to protect humanity from an onslaught of monsters.

Don't go into it expecting a ton of details that will play into the next mainline Witcher game, though. "While we have a story to tell about Alzur's obsession to create the first witcher, we do not treat this expansion as an official addition to The Witcher lore," game director Vladimir Tortsov told IGN. "We hope that players will get enough immersion to complement the gameplay-first formula, but we do not expect the story to be the main reason for players to appreciate this release."

The game is a roguelike deckbuilder. You'll move around a procedurally generated map and take part in card battles based on mechanics from the original Gwent. You'll be able to upgrade your army by collecting more cards and gear. There are dozens of difficulty modifiers too.

Tortsov says it will likely take players north of 30 hours to do and find everything in Rogue Mage, which is designed for gameplay sessions that take up to an hour. The game can be played entirely offline, though there are online features like leaderboards and cross-saves, so you can continue playing where you left off on other devices.

CDPR debuted the original Gwent in 2016. It's a free-to-play multiplayer title based on a minigame in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Rogue Mage isn't the first single-player take on Gwent, though. CDPR previously released a single-player campaign called Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales.

Time is running out to download Epic Games’ The Matrix Awakens. The free open-world interactive demo made with Unreal Engine 5 will be removed from the PlayStation and Xbox stores on July 9th. Luckily, players can still access the game an unlimited amount of times once it’s downloaded. The tie-in experience to The Matrix Resurrections debuted last year, and was one of the first examples of what Epic’s next generation game engine can do. UE5 has since been released to the wider developer community.

While The Matrix Awakens isn’t a full game, it’s still a memorable introduction to UE5’s immersive visuals and natural lighting. Players are essentially given free rein to roam through the titular Matrix and soak in the visual effects. The game was written by Lana Wachowski, the co-writer and director of The Matrix trilogy films, and features performances by both Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves.

If you’ve already dipped your toe into the world of The Matrix Awakens and are interested in experiencing more games using UE5, a number of new titles have been announced, including a new Tomb Raider game, ARK 2, the upcoming Witcher game and Black Myth: Wukong. You can check out gameplay footage from The Matrix Awakens (available on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S console) below.

If you have fond memories of older Ubisoft games with online components from the early 2010s, you might want to check in on them soon. That's because on September 1st 2022, Ubisoft is dropping support for online services in 15 different games including Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.

In a post on Ubisoft's website, the company says it's decommissioning online services in some of its older games in order to "focus our resources on delivering great experiences for players who are playing newer or more popular titles." Depending on the title, gamers will no longer be able to access multiplayer modes or even download and install additional content (DLC). 

Affected games are spread across various platforms including the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, HTC Vive, Oculus and Wii U, with notable titles including Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, the 2012 release of Assassin's Creed 3, Anno 2070 and more. And in some cases like Space Junkies, which is a multiplayer-only title, the game will be completely unplayable. Meanwhile, for others such as Ghost Recon Future Soldier, you'll need to put your console in offline mode just to play the solo campaign. 

While most of the games enjoyed 10 to 12 years of support since their release, it's still a bit sad to see Ubisoft drop support for online services for some of its most iconic franchises — especially in titles where DLC will no longer be accessible. For a full list of games that are being decommissioned on September 1st, please visit the company's help page here for more information. 

A dedicated group of fans has excavated a Doom mobile game from the sands of time and made it playable again. You won't find 2005's Doom RPG on the App Store or Play Store: it actually predates iOS and Android by a couple of years. And while Fountainhead Entertainment looked into bringing Doom RPG to Nintendo DS around the time of its original release, the game was exclusively available on Java- and BREW-compatible handsets. Until now.

A small group of developers in Costa Rica going by the name of GEC.inc reverse engineered Doom RPG and got it to work on Windows. Although the port is free to download, it doesn't contain any of the original files you need to actually run the game.

As Ars Technica points out, you'd technically need to have the game installed on a compatible, still-working phone that might be old enough to vote if it were a person. You'd also have to find a way to extract the game files from said device and convert them. On the other hand, you may be able to find Doom RPG by alternate means. You'll still have to convert the files to make the game work, but that seems to be an easy process.

Doom RPG has clear ties to the rest of the series. John Carmack, the lead programmer of the original Doom, was the game director. The game features the protagonist of the first three Doom titles (dubbed "Doomguy" by fans). But instead of rampaging through levels and mowing down monsters in real-time, Doom RPG adopted a turn-based format.

It's always great to see enthusiasts finding ways to preserve games, especially a relatively obscure one that's part of such a famous series. Perhaps for their next trick, the folks at GEC.inc will revive Doom RPG II. Although you can still buy that game from the App Store, it's not compatible with recent versions of iOS. According to the store listing, however, it will run on a Mac running macOS 11.0 or later as long as it has an M1 chip. 

Sony has revealed the three games that all PlayStation Plus subscribers can snap up in July. They are Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, Man of Medan and Arcadegeddon — a notable leaker once again got all three games spot on.

Crash Bandicoot 4 arrived in 2020 and was the first new mainline Crash game in 12 years. It was pegged as a direct sequel to the original PlayStation 1 trilogy — meaning that it ignored all the PS2 games. Both the PlayStation 4 and PS5 versions will be available, with the latter supporting features like the DualSense controller's adaptive triggers and haptic feedback.

Man of Medan is the first title in Supermassive's Dark Pictures Anthology series. It's an interactive horror game in which your choices determine whether characters live or die. However, we felt it didn't hold up as strongly as the studio's previous game, Until Dawn. Man of Medan is hitting PS Plus just after the arrival of Supermassive's latest game, The Quarry.

Arcadegeddon, meanwhile, is a multiplayer shooter from Illfonic that has both co-operative and player vs. player modes. You'll search for loot and unlock abilities as you take on the evil Fun Fun Co. megacorp, which is using an arcade for real-world weapons testing.

This is the first time Sony has refreshed the games on the lowest tier of the new-look PS Plus since it revamped the service. The company said it will continue to offer Essential tier users a couple of games a month that they'll have access to as long as they remain subscribers. Sony will also update the Extra and Premium lineups in the middle of each month.

Crash 4, Man of Medan and Arcadegeddon will be available to claim on July 5th. Until then, you can still add the current batch of PS Plus Essential titles — God of War (2018), Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl — to your library.

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle was a pleasant surprise. A charming game that married Nintendo’s Mushroom Kingdom with the chaos of Ubisoft’s Rabbid mascots and crammed it into a game that was, well, pretty much a cartoon interpretation of the tactical strategy series XCOM.

It was an unlikely early hit on the Switch. Ubisoft was able to offer a different kind of game than Nintendo was offering in its first-party titles. Apparently, that was the seed that led Ubisoft Milan Creative Director Davide Soliani to Mario + Rabbids. Talking to Engadget, he said, “[We] should create something that makes sense from Ubisoft’s point of view, something not happening in Nintendo’s catalog.”

Ubisoft fulfilled that brief with Kingdom Battle. Soliani added: “We can match the aesthetics [of Super Mario], using and misusing the elements…. The contrast is the drive.” That’s the context for this sequel, too. 

In Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, Mario et al. (and their Rabbid equivalents) face a shared threat, called Cursa. The blended worlds of Mario and Rabbids are being contorted by darkness, but this time it’s a little more galactic. Expect to see varied worlds, à la Mario Galaxy, with the Lumas of that game being transformed into Sparks, elemental sprites that work like summonable magic attacks in the many, many battles.

That may sound new to anyone that played Kingdom Battle, but there are far bigger changes afoot. We’re yet to play the game, but judging from the new teaser and Davide Soliani’s explanation, it’s going to feel different – less of an XCOM tribute and something between tactical strategy conventions and the manic dashing and leaping of typical Mario games.

Ubisoft

Your party of three heroes can now move around in real-time, no more grids. You’ll be able to see how far a character can move within their environment thanks to a white outline, but you’ll be able to figure out cover and optimal attacks on the fly. Each hero will get their turn before the baddies get to, well, return the favor. Soliani says this should help the game to feel more “natural”.

Crucial elements will include where you move your hero (as long as you don’t shoot), utilizing items to extend movement and even using some enemies against other enemies – like hurling a Bob-omb towards some unsuspecting enemies on the other side of an area. Like Kingdom Battle, the synergy with other heroes will be crucial in tackling the biggest enemies.

Alongside companion elemental Sparks, which will grow in abilities as your characters do, each hero will have their own unique weapon this time, running the gamut from melee weapons like swords through to dual pistols and even bows. (You can’t have a game in the 2020s without including a bow.)

You’ll be joined by some new characters, including a Rabbid with a sword called Edge. (Dumb, I love it.) and age-old rival Bowser, who’s apparently a heavy-hitter equipped with what appears to be a bazooka.

More freedom in battles is mirrored in the game too. The worlds you’ll explore should feel more open-ended than the areas of its predecessor. Explore planets, take on fetch quests (this is a Ubisoft game after all), solve the major darkness problems of this specific planet – or just do the bare minimum and move on to the next part of the game.

Ubisoft

This should all help Sparks of Hope feel a little more contemporary – aided by a pretty incredible array of musical talent. Kingdom Battle composer Grant Kirkhope, who also contributed to Rare’s epic run of Nintendo 64 games, returns, joined by Gareth Croker (Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Halo Infinite) and Yoko Shimomura (Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy XV). Those are some gaming music heavyweights which should help ensure all these different worlds sound as different as they’ll look.

Judging from the teaser and Soliani’s comments, Ubisoft is evolving Mario + Rabbids at a swift clip, modernizing the battle system and adding further strategic wrinkles and customization to fights. Sparks of Hope could feel like a different sort of tactical battle game, and if they nail the synergy like the first game, it could be just as entertaining.

A Plague Tale: Requiem — the sequel to the 2019 game that features a pair of siblings fleeing Spanish Inquisition soldiers (as well as plague-ridden rats) — will arrive on October 18th. Publisher Focus Entertainment and developer Asobo released a lengthy trailer today that features over ten minutes of gameplay through the brutal world of a war-torn France from several centuries ago. Siblings Amicia and Hugo are now a few years older and more skilled at getting out of tough scrapes. The game follows the pair as they fight their way through mercenary bands, ambushes, murderous soldiers and disease-ridden rodents.

Xbox Gamepass subscribers should note that the game will be available on the service on the same day of its launch, a nice perk that Microsoft continues to do with more titles (Asobo is also the developer of Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is also on Game Pass). Nintendo Switch owners can also look forward to a cloud version of Requiem. And of course, the game will be available for purchase on Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PCs.

In a blog post, the game’s lead writer Sébastien Renard shed more light on what fans can expect in the sequel. Hugo, the younger sibling, has magical powers that are developing throughout the game and the elder sister Amica has honed her fighting skills. But even greater and more daunting obstacles lay ahead for the pair. “Our heroes will face their inner conflicts together with external ones. To begin with, they will discover a new part of France, Provence, which will offer new sights and sensations, leading them to believe in a kind of paradise. Unfortunately, the harsh medieval reality inevitably catches up, and their hopes vanish before they can get too comfortable,” wrote Renard.

You can get a closer look at Requiem in the trailer below.

If you visited arcades in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s, you surely remember the golden age of beat-em-up games. Cabinets like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons, X-Men and more followed a fairly simple formula: take a popular franchise and have its characters cut through swaths of bad guys, throw in some environmental challenges to keep the levels from getting too repetitive, and top it off with a big boss battle at the end. But the real draw was multiplayer — these games let four or even six friends (or strangers) play simultaneously, a totally chaotic but thrilling shared experience.

Given the popularity of the TMNT franchise, it’s no surprise that both the original arcade game and its sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time were both ported to the NES and SNES, respectively. As a pre-teen, my best friend and I spent untold hours playing these ports, as well as the arcade games on the too-rare occasions that we could get to the mall.

I clearly have a lot of nostalgia for these games, and I’m not alone. Last year, developer Tribute Games announced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, a brand-new beat-em-up title inspired by the arcade games of yesteryear. The game features retro pixel-art, two different game modes, online and local multiplayer (up to six players online), and seven playable characters, including the four turtles, Master Splinter, April O’Neil and Casey Jones. On the surface, it seems to have everything you could ask for in a modern version of an arcade classic, and Tribute’s comments prior to the game’s release showed a deep love for the source material.

After a week playing Shredder’s Revenge on the Xbox Series S, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, I can confirm that Tribute absolutely nailed its mission of bringing the classic TMNT experience into the modern era. It all starts with the art style and music, both of which are spot-on for this franchise; it feels like a natural evolution of the original two arcade games, both of which were largely based on the 1987 cartoon (rather than the comic books, live-action films, or more recent animated shows). The music immediately sets the tone – the score by Tee Lopes immediately brings to mind classic 16-bit tunes, Mike Patton performs the opening theme, and Raekwon and Ghostface Killah contribute as well. While the music isn’t quite as compelling as the soundtrack from Turtles in Time (which is an absolute banger), it evokes the essential mood of playing in an arcade with your friends in the early ‘90s.

The gameplay essentials from earlier games are all intact here — each playable character has different strengths and weaknesses like range and speed, but they’re not so different that you’ll feel thrown by switching players. The core gameplay is still mostly accomplished with two buttons: attack and jump.

Tribute

But, there are a lot more moves than in earlier games, including a variety of throws, slides, aerial attacks and dodges. Dashing lets you pull off different slide and charge attacks, you can grab enemies and throw them right towards the TV screen (just like you do in Turtles in Time), there’s a dodge button that lets you dance out of trouble and there are a host of different aerial moves. And unlike older games, Shredder’s Revenge has unique animations for every move each character in the game can pull off. Even though gameplay between each character isn’t radically different, the distinct visuals for all four turtles and their friends keeps things looking fresh.

As with any good beat-‘em-up, each character has their own special move, too. Unlike in old arcade games, where using a special would usually take a chunk out of your health, these moves are tied to a power bar that fills up as you string together longer and longer hit combos. When it’s full, you can unleash a special move or save it for later use. It’s a good way to make it so players can’t just use special attacks constantly and adds a bit of strategy to the otherwise chaotic melee.

Another way Tribute makes Shredder’s Revenge feel more modern is the game’s story mode. You’ll be able to level up your character over time, which unlocks more health, extra lives and new special attacks. You’ll also eventually get the ability to stack multiple special moves — when you fill up your bar and bank one move, you can keep filling it up and hold two and eventually three in reserve — or you can blow all three at once in a frenzied super-attack. Story mode also lets you re-enter levels to find hidden items or meet the achievement goals for each stage (things like take out 10 enemies with a special attack, or make it through without taking damage). And you can switch your character between levels, rather than stay locked to one turtle for the entire game.

Arcade mode, on the other hand, is for old-school fans who want a tougher challenge. The game is simple: pick a character, and fight through all of the game’s dozen-plus levels before you run out of lives and continues. You get the advantage of having your health bar extended to its max capacity and all your special moves are unlocked — but given the number of stages in this game, it won’t be easy, especially on the intense “gnarly” difficulty level.

Tribute

This all makes for a fun single-player experience, but — just like the arcade games from the ‘90s — Shredder’s Revenge really shines in multiplayer mode. You can have up to four player on local co-op, or an insane six-players online. It’s a glorious amount of chaos, but it’s managed surprisingly well. The game scales up in difficulty depending on how many people you’re playing with; that usually just amounts to more enemies and bosses that can take more damage.

Unfortunately, cross-play isn’t supported for now — Xbox and PC players can team up, but PlayStation and Switch players will need to play the same version as their friends if they want to work together. The good news is that it’s also not hard to get a game going with strangers. It’s not quite as much fun as playing with people you know, but the game definitely feels more alive when you have at least a pair taking on Shredder and the Foot clan.

This all adds up to a game that’s a lot more fun to play than even I expected. Nostalgia goes a long way, but Shredder’s Revenge manages to work as a love letter to games of the past while still feeling fresh. There’s just something incredibly satisfying about teaming up with a few friends and mowing down a never-ending swarm of enemies; that was true in the ‘90s, and it’s still true today.

Of course, it helps if you have some affection for the TMNT franchise, but even if you don’t, the tight gameplay, addictive soundtrack and great co-op features should be enough to enjoy Shredder’s Revenge. And if you grew up playing the arcade games or their home console counterparts, this new adventure is a must-play. That’s especially true if you have friends to play it with, either IRL or online.

Diablo Immortal was supposed to debut in China on June 23rd, but those who have been waiting for the game in the country will need to wait longer. NetEase, which co-developed the game with Blizzard, has pushed back the release date indefinitely. It wrote in a blog post that "the development team is making a number of optimization adjustments."

However, there are other factors at play. NetEase found itself in the bad graces of China's censors over a post on its Weibo social media service that seemingly referenced Winnie the Pooh, according to the Financial Times. The cartoon character is used to mock Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In the wake of a screenshot of the post (which read "why hasn't the bear stepped down?") gaining traction, the official Diablo Immortal Weibo account was banned from posting anything. Discussions related to the post were also wiped from the service.

Currently, Diablo Immortal does not have a release date in China, though NetEase still expects to ship the game in the country. It promised players an "exclusive thank-you package containing legendary equipment" as a makegood for the delay.

The PC and mobile title debuted in other territories this month. According to reports, it raked in $24 million in two weeks as a result of its aggressive approach to monetization. China is the biggest gaming market on the planet and not being able to release Diablo Immortal there would likely have a severe impact on the game's expected revenues. NetEase declined to comment to the Financial Times. Engadget has contacted Blizzard for comment.

It's not the first time a game developer has run into issues with Chinese regulators over a Winnie the Pooh reference. Publisher Indievent lost its license to sell Devotion in China, leading it to cut ties with developer Red Candle Games, which included a blatant dig at Xi in the game itself. The studio, which is based in Taiwan, later started selling a DRM-free version of Devotion on its own storefront.

Ever since we got our first look at Dune: Spice Wars during the 2021 Game Awards, it has looked like one of the most promising videogame adaptions of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi series in a long time. If you’ve been playing the game in Steam early access, you can now look forward to fighting over Arrakis with your friends.

On Monday, developer Shiro Games announced the release of Spice Wars' multiplayer update, allowing you and up to three other players to participate in 2v2 or free-for-all matches. If you can’t find enough friends or strangers to play with, the game will fill your match with computer opponents. As with the Spice Wars' single-player component, you can tweak the difficulty of your AI foes and factors like map size, sandworm activity, and more.

Multiplayer support is the headline feature, but today’s update includes several other enhancements. Shiro has introduced additional in-game events and Landsraad resolutions that can change the course of your games. It has also added new regions to increase map diversity, and reworked building graphics, among other changes.

If you haven’t checked out Spice Wars yet, it’s currently 20 percent off on Steam. I’ve sunk about 30 hours into the game since it came out in early access back in April. So far, I can say Shiro has done a great job of creating an experience that feels authentic to the novels.