As reported by Deadline, Story Kitchen (the production company founded by John Wick creator Derek Kolstad alongside Sonic the Hedgehog film producer Dmitri M. Johnson, and Mike Goldberg) has partnered with Slime Rancher developers Monomi Park to adapt the popular indie farming sim to the big screen.

In the past few years Story Kitchen has announced a whole host of different video game adaptations, including franchises such as Tomb Raider; Splinter Cell; Toejam & Earl; Streets of Rage and It Takes Two. While none of these projects have yet to release, the team behind the production company and their past credits seem to suggest that the IP will be in good hands.

While no further details were shared regarding the project, the original Slime Rancher has you play as Beatrix LeBeau, “a plucky, young rancher who sets out for a life a thousand light years away from Earth on the ‘Far, Far Range’ where she tries her hand at making a living wrangling slimes.”

Since the first game’s release back in 2017, Slime Rancher has gone on to sell more than 6 million copies and amassed a total audience of over 15 million. While unlikely to be the next big Summer blockbuster, it will be interesting to see what the team has planned for this film.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the announcement? Are you excited? How do you think the adaptation will be handled? Let us know down below.

As reported by insider ‘MyTimeToShineHello’ the film industry leaker took to Twitter to make the claim, saying “Tom Holland to play Jak, Chris Pratt eyed to voice Daxter in live action Jak and Daxter movie from Sony directed by Ruben Fleischer (Venom, Uncharted).”

While certainly an unconventional pick to play the duo, both actors have as mentioned been in successful video game adaptations (one much more successful than the other). Furthermore, the two have been in a number of projects together including Avengers Infinity War; Endgame and Pixar’s Onwards.

Of course, nothing is confirmed and should all be taken with a pinch of salt until announced by Sony themselves, but it seems as though we will begin to see more and more video game characters being taken over by Hollywood stars.

For a franchise with relatively little cache in today’s day and age, perhaps attaching two massive celebrities to the project will help to boost eyes on Jak & Daxter. We will have to wait and see.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the current casting? Could you see it working out? Are too many video game films being made? Let us know your thoughts down below.

In a post published to his LinkedIn, Vonderhaar announced the news, saying “Today I am sharing that I have left Activision and Treyarch after an incredible 18 years and 8 Call of Duty games. To my co-workers at Treyarch, I am immensely grateful for the time we invested working to improve our craft, never sitting on successes, and always wondering how to improve what we design and how we produce it.”

He continued, “Thank you to the Call of Duty community for your passion and enthusiasm. That energy has often fueled our determination as a studio and individuals. I will always be grateful for the opportunity to interact with so many of you directly online and in person. This energy will always be a massive part of me.”

In discussing his future plans, Vonderhaar confirmed that “I am staying in the games industry, working on an undisclosed project I can't discuss yet, but I am excited about a rare and unique opportunity. I'll update you as soon as possible.”

Following the departure of Dave Antony and Jason Blundell a couple of years ago, it seems as though Treyarch has lost many of its known figureheads. While this could be an indication of the studio’s current status under Activision and soon-to-be-Microsoft, it is equally as likely that after working at the same place for almost 20 years, Vonderhaar simply wants to try something new. It will be interesting to see what he does next.

KitGuru says: What do you think of David Vonderhaar? Is his departure a big blow for Treyarch? What do you think he’ll do next? Let us know down below.

Making the announcement on Twitter, the team at Ironwood Studios said “As summer comes to a close, we’d like to share that Pacific Drive is moving its release to early 2024. This decision gives us the room to make Pacific Drive the best it can be, while still prioritizing the health of our team.”

They continued, “As many know, we’ve been hard at work bringing this idea to life for quite some time, and every day adds even more to a game we’re all proud of. In this final stretch however, it’s important to us that we stay true to ourselves, and not compromise on the team’s well being.”

It’s not all bad news however, as the team confirmed that “next week at the Future Games Show, we’ll be participating in the main showcase with a brand new trailer. We're so excited for you all to see it!”

While we are unlikely to get a new release date at the event, it will be exciting to get another look at Pacific Drive – especially as the wait for the game is now a little bit longer.

KitGuru says: Are you disappointed by the delay? What do you think of Pacific Drive? What’s your favourite rogue-lite this year so far? Let us know down below.

As reported and transcribed by VGC, Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors spoke on the sales of Dead island 2 during the holding company’s most recent Quarterly Earnings call, saying:

“I think Dead Island had a really strong release window, then we have been seeing more normal performance, according to expectations. What we now expect obviously is promotions, but primarily the addition of new content coming through, so there is a significant amount of content coming through for the game in the year, that would improve the sales of the base game as well.”

Most interestingly, the CEO teased that the game will be coming to another platform soon, saying “looking a year ahead, we would have a release on another platform that will also drive multiple sales.”

For context, Dead Island 2 released earlier this year on PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC via the Epic Games Store. This means that there are very few gaming platforms left which the title could come out on.

It is possible that Wingefors is referring to a Steam release for the game. Alternatively, with Switch 2 rumours beginning to heat up, the game could be set to come to Nintendo’s next-generation console. We will have to wait and see.

KitGuru says: Do you think he is talking about Steam or the Switch 2? Or could Wingefors even be referring to an original Switch release? Let us know your thoughts down below.

As discovered by Twitter user ‘Andrew Marmo’ the German game ratings board (GSK) recently published a new listing for Minecraft on the Xbox Series consoles – suggesting that the game will soon get its long-awaited current-gen upgrade.

While yet to be officially announced, this update all-but-confirms that a current-gen version of Minecraft will soon be upon us.

Currently, the game runs at just 1080p on the Xbox Series X due to the fact that the Minecraft was never enhanced for the now-last-gen Xbox One X. Additionally, the previously-announced ‘Super Duper Graphics Pack’ never came to fruition – nor did the advertised ray tracing mode.

With the current version of Minecraft being so far behind, this Series X|S upgrade can’t come soon enough. Hopefully it includes all of the aforementioned features. We will have to wait and see.

KitGuru says: Are you bothered by the current version of Minecraft on consoles? What do you expect from this upcoming upgrade? What would you look forward to more, 120fps support or ray tracing? Let us know down below.

In an article published to the game’s Steam store listing, the team at Ascendant Studios said “As we inch closer to August 22nd, we wanted to take a moment to talk a bit more about the technology that’s powering our game, and what that means for PC players in particular.”

With that, the team discussed some of the new technologies being implemented into Immortals of Aveum, including its use of Unreal Engine 5.1, Nanite, Lumen and Niagara – with a visual breakdown of these viewable HERE.

More excitingly, the team confirmed that Immortals of Aveum will offer a myriad of upscaling technologies, including the latest and greatest FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 2.2 and Nvidia’s bespoke DLSS 3 – boosting both performance and visuals simultaneously.

While a PC-centric blog post, the team did confirm that consoles will utilise AMD’s FSR 2 to run at a smooth 60fps on all consoles “at your TV’s maximum resolution”. The full blog post can be found HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you excited for Immortals of Aveum? Do you prefer DLSS or FSR? Which UE5 feature are you most looking forward to experiencing? Let us know down below.

As reported and translated by Gematsu, Capcom have officially announced their plans for the upcoming event, including both online and in-person showcases.

Tokyo Game Show as a whole begins on the 21st of September and will conclude a couple days later on the 24th. Capcom will be kicking off its own presence at the event with what they’ve called ‘Tokyo Game Show 2023 Capcom Online Special Program’. While very few details were shared, the showcase – which will be streamed on the 21st of September at 11PM JST [3AM UK Time] – is described as follows:

“Get all the latest Capcom news in our pre-recorded stream as part of Tokyo Game Show Online!” In terms of the stream’s runtime, Capcom’s Showcase will clock in at around 50 minutes, meaning it will be one of the publisher’s longer presentations (for comparison, their Summer showcase lasted a little over 30 minutes).

As mentioned, no further details were shared, however based on the games available to play at the event in Tokyo itself, at the very least we will most likely see more from the previously-announced Resident Evil 4 VR mode – perhaps even a release date.

Historically, Capcom’s showcases have not been the most exciting, however there is still typically a decent amount of new information revealed…but maybe don’t have your hopes up for a new mainline Monster Hunter announcement.

KitGuru says: Are you excited for TGS? What do you think Capcom will showcase? What do you hope to see them announce? Let us know down below.

Making the announcement via a cinematic trailer, the team at Mediatonic said “Leonardo! Michelangelo! Raphael! Donatello! We love turtles, and they’re coming to Fall Guys. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arrive in store from 10AM GMT 17th August until 10AM GMT 31st August, with bodacious Costumes based on all four brothers, Wearables inspired by Rocksteady and Bebop, breakdancing Emotes, a slick Celebration, and more.”

This collab comes in the wake of the universally praised Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles: Mutant Mayhem film which released earlier this month. Additionally, as mentioned you can now buy costumes of the turtles in Street Fighter 6 (though for an admittedly high price).

DLC for 2022’s co-op side-scrolling beat ‘em up TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is also set to drop later this month. Last but certainly not least a AAA TMNT game in the form of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin – an adaptation of the best-selling graphic novel – was revealed last week. After years away from the spotlight, the TMNT are back and seemingly bigger than ever.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this announcement? Are you a fan of the TMNT? How many skins do you have in Fall Guys? Let us know down below.

Making the announcement on Twitter, the team at Remedy Entertainment said “An update from the Alan Wake 2 team: we're moving Alan Wake 2's launch from October 17 to October 27. October is an amazing month for game launches and we hope this date shift gives more space for everyone to enjoy their favorite games. We can't wait to show you what everyone's favorite novelist is up to in the Dark Place next week. Thanks for your patience!”

As mentioned, October will be one of the busiest months of the year, with just some of the games set to drop then including Assassin’s Creed Mirage (5th October); Forza Motorsport (10th October); Lords of the Fallen (13th October); Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (20th October); Super Mario Bros. Wonder (20th October); Cities: Skylines 2 (24th October) and Alone in the Dark (25th October).

Pushing Alan Wake II to the tail-end of the month not only allows for players to have more time with all of these aforementioned games, but will also bring the survival horror title closer to Halloween – making it an even more appropriate release date.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the new release date? What October titles are you planning to pick up? Let us know down below.

In going to Sony’s PlayStation Plus tab via the console, you can find the line-up of games listed under the ‘Last Chance to Play’ section. Fortunately, you still have more than a month to play/complete these titles before they are removed on the 19th of September (with one exception):

• Deathloop
• Chicory: A Colorful Tale
• Ghost Recon: Wildlands
• Watch Dogs
• Watch Dogs 2
• Nidhogg 2
• Through the Darkest of Times
• Death end re;Quest 2
• Steep (leaving 31st of August)

While not an insignificant number of titles are leaving, it is fortunate to see that a majority of PS Plus’ heavy-hitters remain for now. That said, if you did want to give any of these games a try, you have a little under a month to do so.

In case you missed it, August’s PlayStation Plus Extra/Premium games are now available, including the likes of Destiny 2: The Witch Queen; Lost Judgment; Dreams; Midnight Fight Express; Moving Out 2 (a day-one addition) with another day-one title – Sea of Stars – set to arrive on the 29th.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the games leaving? Do you plan on completing any of them before they do? What games would you like to see ADDED in September? Let us know down below.

Making the announcement on Twitter, the official Japanese Tango Gameworks account revealed this latest milestone, saying (via translation): “#HiFiRUSH has surpassed 3 million players!

From all of us at Tango Gameworks, we would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

Of course, it is worth noting that 3 million players does not equate to 3 million copies sold as Hi-Fi Rush was made available day-one on Xbox Game Pass. Still the figure is an impressive one nonetheless – even if it took 5 months to grow from 2 to 3 million.

Early last month, Hi-Fi Rush received its first major free update, adding two new game modes ‘BMP RUSH!’ and ‘Power Up! Tower Up!’ alongside a bunch of smaller improvements and refinements. This likely helped to push the title to its latest milestone – though this is merely conjecture on our part.

Hi-Fi Rush is a unique game with an equally unique concept executed excellently and so it is not surprising to see that the action-rhythm game has amassed a large audience of fans. Hopefully this encourages more games to be released in a similar manner.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Hi-Fi Rush? Are you one of the 3 million? Did you try out the latest update? Let us know down below.

Making the announcement on Twitter, the official Bethesda Game Studios account said “Prepare for launch. #Starfield has gone gold! Preloads begin tomorrow for @Xbox X|S and Windows PC and August 30 for Steam.”

For the uninitiated, ‘Going Gold’ means that the Starfield master disc has been submitted to the game’s publisher: Bethesda Softworks. Following the submission of the gold master, discs can be pressed with finalised software and digital storefronts can upload the ‘final’ version of the game ready for release. It’s a process that every game in development goes through, and means that (aside from post-launch patches) Starfield is complete and ready to play.

As mentioned, Starfield has been in development for quite some time, with the open-universe RPG initially planned for release all the way back in November of 2021. Since then, the game has seen multiple delays, leading some to worry about the status of its development.

With Starfield going Gold however, it is safe to assume that there will be no further delays. That’s not to say that Starfield will launch in a bug-free state – especially when considering the fact that pretty much every Bethesda Game Studios title released in the past has suffered from numerous issues – but this latest developmental update is exciting nonetheless.

KitGuru says: Are you excited for Starfield? How do you think it will compare to Bethesda’s other RPGs? Let us know down below.

In an interview conducted by The Hollywood Reporter, HBO’s The Last of Us co-creator and showrunner ‘Craig Mazin’ spoke on a number of topics including the ongoing Hollywood strikes, casting for the show’s second Season and more.

While the first game in the series managed to be fit into a single Season, previous claims were made stating that adapting Part II of the game would require two Seasons worth of content. When asked about this, Mazin replied “What I can certainly confirm is that that story does not fit into one season.”

Of course, currently there only exists two games in this franchise (though reports have claimed that a 3rd entry is in development). When asked about the total number of seasons HBO’s adaptation is expected to run for, Mazin stated:

“You never know. It can end up being three or five. But four seems like a good number. Some seasons, because of the story we're telling, will need fewer episodes and some will need more. The best news is the audience wants more. We will not indulge a desire for more simply to make them happier when they hear how many episodes are announced.”

Finally, Mazin spoke briefly on casting for the show’s second season – in particular when it comes to one specific character. For the sake of not spoiling Part II, the showrunner’s comments on the matter can be found HERE, but regardless it is exciting to see that long term plans are being put in place for the future of HBO’s The Last of Us. It will be interesting to see how long Season 2 takes to come to fruition.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What did you think of HBO’s The Last of Us? Are you excited for Season 2? How do you think they will approach future Seasons? Let us know down below.

Those who signed up for Starfield’s mailing list were given the chance to ask the game’s lead designer (Emil Pagliarulo) and lead quest designer (Will Shen) a bunch of questions via Discord. Having selected 16 of these, the duo have now directly addressed the questions, giving us a bunch of new and interesting details.

While the full Q&A can be found HERE (collated by ResetEra user ‘vixolus’), some of the most interesting revelations include the fact that Starfield will feature a jail system. As explained by Shen: “Yes, you can elect to go to jail or pay a fine when you're arrested (or even resist arrest and try to escape),” with Pagliarulo adding that “The Settled Systems is more like Skyrim than Fallout 4's Commonwealth in that regard. Ya bancha criminals!”

Though perhaps unsurprising, the duo confirmed that Starfield’s living and breathing universe will only be active while playing (meaning time won’t pass when not in-game), with Pagliarulo explaining “The sim only runs when you're actively playing. No sleeping on the job!” This means that automated systems such as mining operations and trade routes will not continue to operate in the background once the game is closed.

When asked about the number of companions which you will be able to recruit into your party, Shen replied “There are over 20 named characters who can join your crew. Four of them are from Constellation and have the most story and interaction with the player, but all of the named characters have their own backgrounds and can follow you around (and carry your stuff)”. For comparison, Fallout 4 – with all of its DLC – featured 17 companions in total.

The full Q&A session can be found HERE, and includes details on the game’s influences, religions, crew members and more.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of these new details? Are you more or less excited for Starfield now? Did any of their answers disappoint you? Let us know down below.

Making the announcement via a new trailer, the team at Dotemu said “A multiversal melee awaits! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge – Dimension Shellshock DLC is coming on August 31 on PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.”

While we still do not have a price for this new piece of content, considering the fact that the base game itself costs just over £20, expect it to be fairly priced.

The initial announcement for the DLC confirmed that a new character would be added to the roster: Miyamoto Usagi, star of the Usagi Yojimbo comic book series. Now, we know that they will also be joined by “the Foot Clan’s fiercest fighter” Karai, bringing the number of playable characters to an impressive 9 in total.

Of course, that is not all as the Dimension Shellshock DLC will also add a new survival game mode alongside additional character colours.

TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge was an excellent title in its own right – especially in the wake of the game’s major free update released late last year. Hopefully this DLC ends up being equally as well-received.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Shredder’s Revenge? Will you pick up the DLC when it releases? Which of the two characters are you more looking forward to playing as? Let us know down below.

Ahead of the game’s release on the 6th of September, Starfield has now officially gone Gold. Alongside this, the team announced that Xbox fans will be able to pre-load the game from today. What this means is that we now have official file sizes for the game on both PC and Xbox.

Those planning to play the RPG on PC will need to free up just under 140GB (139.84GB to be exact). While slightly smaller on consoles, the Xbox version will still take up 126.1GB. It is unclear whether this figure pertains to the Xbox Series X or S version of Starfield – though it is likely the former.

For comparison, Skyrim’s most recent iteration (the Anniversary Edition) takes up just 12GB. Fallout 4 meanwhile requires a little under 40GB (not including the High Resolution Texture Pack). Finally, Bethesda Game Studios’ most recent original release (Fallout 76) takes up a total of 80GB.

Of course, file size does not equate to a game’s actual size/scope, with No Man’s Sky and its 18 quintillion planets requiring just 15GB. All that said, for those with an Xbox Series S, you might want to start freeing up some space for Starfield ahead of its launch next month.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you surprised by the file size? How big is your SSD? How much space do you think Starfield will be when all its eventual DLC is included? Let us know down below.

On the 14th of August, the popular PC-centric YouTube channel Gamers Nexus published a video discussing what they called “serious concerns regarding the data accuracy of Linus Media Group, including Linus Tech Tips, ShortCircuit, and TechQuickie, particularly as it relates to rushing content out the door to favor – by staff's own admission – quantity over quality.”

The video garnered a great deal of attention and led to a response in a forum post by Linus – which Gamers Nexus then spoke on further in a follow-up video, calling it “hastily, angrily-written, and at times inaccurate.”

All this controversy then escalated when an ex-employee of LMG took to Twitter to recount their own time at the company, revealing that they had suffered from a toxic workplace environment during their tenure at LMG – with the most serious allegations claiming they experienced sexual harassment by unnamed employees.

Publication The Verge reached out to LMG’s founder ‘Linus Sebastian’ who responded via email, saying “I was in a state of shock reading through these allegations, plain and simple. They aren’t consistent with my recollections. They aren’t consistent with our internal processes. They aren’t consistent with our company values.”

Sebastian continued, “We pride ourselves on maintaining a safe and inclusive environment. In addition to our existing report systems (both anonymous and otherwise) we’ve proactively reached out internally today to encourage members of our team to report any workplace bullying or harassment they might be experiencing so we can take quick and decisive action.”

Linus concluded by stating: “Our HR team will be conducting a more thorough assessment of the allegations, and when we are ready, we will release a more complete statement. For now I would ask that we allow our team the time they need be as thorough as possible.”

Of course, all this merely scratches the surface of the situation, and so for those who wish to understand the full context, Gamers Nexus’ original video can be found HERE; the initial forum post by Linus responding to the video can be found HERE; Gamers Nexus’ follow-up video can be found HERE; the official LinusTechTips response to the response can be found HERE; the allegations made by LMG’s ex-employee can be found HERE; and finally Linus’ most recent statement to The Verge can be found HERE.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Have you been following the situation? What do you think? Let us know down below.

Back in 2020 we reported that Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II would offer over 60 accessibility options, ranging from the visual to the auditory and everything in between. Since then, more and more studios have followed in their footsteps, upping the ante when it comes to accessibility.

Many first-party PlayStation studios have opted to include dozens of different options to make their games as accessible as possible. Insomniac Games for example have been doing so with the likes of Spider-Man Remastered and Miles Morales.

While these games already included a bunch of options (such as QTE auto complete; the ability to switch between button presses and holds; enhanced auto aim; accessibility vibration and more), the team looks set to one-up themselves, this time bringing a whole new suite of options.

As part of Spider-Man 2’s Q&A page Insomniac Games detailed the new options which will be available alongside all previous additions, namely:

• Audio: Screen reader support will read aloud all on-screen text in menus
• Captions: On-screen captions and audio descriptions are available for cinematic scenes
• Gameplay: You can choose to slow down the action to 70%, 50% or 30% of the full speed, switching back to regular speed at any time

The speed-altering option in particular will be useful to many in Spider-Man 2, especially as the sequel has already shown off a much speedier Spider-Man – making it even more useful than it would have been in the first game.

As mentioned, these are merely the new additions, with all prior accessibility options from the first game’s remaster also set to be included, meaning more than 60 separate options will be available when Spider-Man 2 launches on the 20th of October.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you excited for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2? Are you glad to see them adding more accessibility options? What other games do you think would benefit from increased accessibility? Let us know down below.

As collated by ResetEra user ‘est1992’ WB Montreal has in the past few months suffered from a number of its ‘top brass’ developers leaving the studio – with a bunch of them parting ways within the same week.

Just some of the developers who have left WB Montreal include:

• Geoff Ellenor (Game director)
• Patrick Redding (Creative Director)
• Fleur Marty (Executive Producer)

While no reasons were given for these departures, it is safe to assume that the middling reception of Gotham Knights has at least something to do with it.

WB Montreal are said to be working on another new DC game, and while no official information has been shared regarding the specificities of this project, it will be interesting to see just how much these recent departures will affect the final product – for better or for worse.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the departures? Does this spell the end of WB Montreal or could new blood inject renewed creativity into the studio? Let us know your thoughts down below.

In an interview conducted by VGC, Opening Night Live’s creator Geoff Keighley discussed a number of topics including the show’s audience, logistics and more. Most interestingly, Keighley took the time to temper fan expectations, saying:

“It’s going to be an exciting show with new looks at many announced upcoming games like Alan Wake 2, and Black Myth Wukong. This year’s ONL is less about announcing brand new projects, and more about giving fans updates on some of the biggest games due out over the next year.”

With Keighley hosting multiple events a year – including Summer Game Fest, The Game Awards and of course Opening Night Live – it is understandable that not every showcase can feature new and exciting announcements.

That said, with Alan Wake 2 and Black Myth Wukong already confirmed to be at the event, hopefully the showcase will still be a fun time  – and will undoubtedly feature at least one or two new titles.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you excited for Opening Night Live? Which of the two confirmed games are you more interested in? What surprise announcement do you hope to see at the event? Let us know down below.

Making the announcement on the Xbox Wire Blog, Dave McCarthy – CVP Xbox Player Services – said “One of the most common questions we get from players through feedback, posts, and appeals is how repeated enforcements impact their gameplay, how they escalate, what they escalate to, and how they know when their account is back in good standing. To help address this, we are introducing a new enforcement strike system.”

They continued, “The new system attaches strikes to every enforcement, ranging in severity based on inappropriate activity. Each player will now have a view of their enforcement history including strikes and the overall impact these have on their player record.”

Offering more concrete details, “The system is similar to demerit strikes used in driver’s license systems in many countries. For example, a player that has received two strikes will be suspended from the platform for one day, whereas a player that receives four strikes will be suspended for seven days. Players have a total of eight strikes and, once reached, will be suspended from Xbox’s social features like messaging, parties and party chat, multiplayer and others for one year from the enforcement date.”

The full scope of the new system and how it will and won’t change the current format can be found on the blog, but in general this new enforcement seems to be focused on offering greater transparency – which is always a good thing.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this new system? Will it help? Have you ever been suspended? Let us know down below.

As reported by known industry insider Shpeshal Nick, the as-of-yet-unannounced Persona 6 will come to Xbox platforms at the same time as PlayStation, saying in their latest podcast episode:

“I had heard the rumours that Persona 6–Sony was trying to lock it up apparently…not according to the DM I just got. I just got a DM that said it’s coming to Xbox day-one.”

Shpeshal Nick has been the source of many leaks and rumours over the past few years, and as such it is safe to say that this leak has some weight behind it.

As mentioned by Nick themselves, previous rumours (by another insider ‘Nate the Hate’) claimed that Persona 6 would be a PlayStation exclusive. We reported on this back in May, and so either the initial rumour was off or plans have changed since then. It is worth noting that at the time Nate did state that Persona 6 would ‘likely’ be a PS5 exclusive, meaning the deal between Sony and ATLUS seemingly ended up falling through.

Persona 5 was huge for both Sony and ATLUS, with the game putting the series on the map in a whole new way – in many cases surpassing its parent-franchise ‘Shin Megami Tensei’ in popularity.

Of course, these leaks are just that – leaks – and so we will have to wait for official confirmation from SEGA/ATLUS themselves. That said, the dream of a new Persona game releasing in a multiplatform manner is more real today than it was yesterday.

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KitGuru says: Are you excited for Persona 6? When do you think it will be announced? Do you think it’ll come to Xbox at the same time as PlayStation? Let us know down below.

Making the announcement on Twitter, the official Nintendo of America account revealed the game’s release date, saying “Experience Gotham City in a whole new way and become its ultimate protector when Batman: Arkham Trilogy comes to #NintendoSwitch on October 13th!”

Alongside this, we got our first look at what might be the box art for the game, showing off a much more stylish piece of artwork – especially when compared to the trilogy’s original release,

Speaking of, it is worth noting that this collection will not feature all of the games on the cartridge, with only the first title (Batman Arkham Asylum) being included. That said, at the very least it seems as though the sequels will be separate downloads, meaning your Switch should not suffer from a lack of free memory.

Last but certainly not least, the Batman Arkham Trilogy will cost £42.99 – a rather hefty price for a collection which can be found on sale for £8 on other platforms. It will be interesting to see how these titles look and perform when the Batman Arkham Trilogy launches on Switch one month from now.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of the Arkham Trilogy? Is the price on Switch justified? Let us know your thoughts down below.

Stephen Kick, the CEO of Nightdive Studios, is an active participant in online social circles, with them actively engaging with fans via the likes of Twitter. In response to one fan who said “Dude you released System Shock remake and #Quake2 remaster in the same year. So proud of you and the team!!!” Kick corrected them while also teasing a number of future releases, saying:

“…and ROTT [Rise of the Triad]: Ludicrous Edition…plus TWO MORE unannounced titles”. Based on the wording of the response, it seems as though these two unannounced titles are set to be unveiled and released this year, meaning Nightdive would have launched 5 titles in total just in 2023.

Of course, while both these unannounced projects are unlikely to be anything as big as their System Shock remake, the fact that a team of 40 developers are able to release so many titles in just one year is impressive to say the least.

No hints were given as to what these titles might be, but with the studio recently being acquired by Atari, the number of IPs available to them is now rather significant.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Nightdive’s output? What is your favourite game released by them this year? Do you have any hopes/wishes for these two unannounced titles? Let us know down below.

Though not yet announced by Ubisoft themselves, the Xbox-focused Twitter account Klobrille shared footage of Master Chief’s character model within Rainbow Six: Siege, saying “Master Chief is coming to Rainbow Six Siege.”

The skin will be for the character Sledge (as can be seen by the equipped sledgehammer). Alongside the skin, a Cortana weapon charm is included in the bundle, giving the crossover that little bit more personality.

Though it started off as quite a serious game when it first released back in 2015, over the years (and undoubtedly in part due to the success of Fortnite), Siege has been inundated with an increasingly odd roster of crossover characters.

This certainly is in no way the oddest addition to Siege, with the aforementioned Pickle Rick and The Undertaker (alongside Lara Croft from Tomb Raider; Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil and Kazuma Kiryu from the Yakuza series) having been added to the game in the past many years. It will be interesting to see whether a PlayStation character makes their way into the game next.

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Everspace 2 is a third-person, space-based looter-shooter set in an open-world action-RPG environment. Releasing today on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, the team at Rockfish Games took to Microsoft's Xbox Wire Blog to detail how the title’s day-one Game Pass deal helped to make the game “better” for everyone, saying:

“Ironically, not only is it good for Xbox and PC users, it’s also good for players on other platforms: everyone gets a better game because of Xbox Game Pass. The extra funding helps us stay independent, and we can deliver the game when we think it’s ready – and it is.”

Of course, with this interview being conducted by Microsoft themselves, it would have been unusual for the studio to say otherwise. That said, if we were to take Rockfish Games on their word then it is encouraging to see that Xbox Game Pass is helping smaller studios while still allowing the titles to release on other competing platforms.

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A few days ago as part of a Father’s Day post, Xbox’s Brazilian account posted a photo to Twitter featuring many video game protagonists and their children. One of the characters included was Barret from Final Fantasy VII Remake – leading many to believe that the game could soon find its way onto Xbox consoles.

The post was quickly deleted, which led some to further believe in this fact. Unfortunately, it seems as though this isn’t the case, with Microsoft sharing a statement to Eurogamer saying: “The image was posted in error and removed as it included a title not available on Xbox.”

While yes, Final Fantasy VII Remake is not currently on Xbox, the statement does not deny that it could arrive at some point in the future. That said, until officially revealed otherwise, Microsoft should be taken on their word – especially as this isn’t the first error posted by Xbox’s Brazil branch.

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Speaking to Wccftech, Lords of the Fallen developers Hexworks sat down to discuss the many technical aspects of the game, with executive producer Saul Galscon revealing that the Unreal Engine 5 powered title will offer multiple performance options on consoles, saying:

“On both consoles, we offer performance and quality modes. The performance mode goes at 60 frames per second and 1080p resolution upscaled, which is kind of the standard in the industry. The quality mode is 2K (1440P) upscaled, running at 30 FPS. But even if you play at 60, Lords of the Fallen looks really good.”

As mentioned, Lords of the Fallen is running on Unreal Engine 5 and so should be able to take advantage of Epic Game’s many upscaling and enhanced rendering technologies – meaning that even at 1080p the game should look far cleaner than 1080p games of the past.

Interestingly, Gascon did not offer any information on the Xbox Series S version of the game, and so we will have to wait and see whether Microsoft’s lower-powered console will similarly receive multiple performance options (and if so at what resolutions).

Regardless, Lords of the Fallen is looking to be a tech showcase for Unreal Engine 5, and so it will be exciting to see just how good the game looks and plays when it releases for PC, Xbox Series X|S and PS5 on the 13th of October. The full interview can be found HERE.

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Making the announcement on Twitter, the official Assassin’s Creed account revealed that “Assassin's Creed Mirage has gone gold and is coming out a week early! On behalf of the entire team, we can't wait for you to explore 9th Century Baghdad with Basim. Your journey now starts on October 5. Save the new date!”

Assassin's Creed Mirage has gone gold and is coming out a week early!

On behalf of the entire team, we can't wait for you to explore 9th Century Baghdad with Basim.

Your journey now starts on October 5. Save the new date! #AssassinsCreed pic.twitter.com/eWAZttvjIX

— Assassin's Creed (@assassinscreed) August 14, 2023

For the uninitiated, ‘Going Gold’ means that the Assassin’s Creed Mirage master disc has been submitted to the game’s publisher Ubisoft. Following the submission of the gold master, discs can be pressed with finalised software and digital storefronts can upload the ‘final’ version of the game ready for release. It’s a process that every game in development goes through, and means that (aside from post-launch patches) Assassin’s Creed Mirage is complete and ready to play.

Ubisoft is one of the more notorious publishers when it comes to delaying games, and so it is a welcome surprise to see that Assassin’s Creed Mirage is actually coming out earlier than initially planned. Hopefully this means that the game will launch in a bug-free state – though based on the series’ past, we will have to wait and see.

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