Let me slash the tendons of that strutting headline with some immediate caveats. Most obviously, you will not like Cicamadata” if you have an overpowering hatred of feisty punctuation in game titles. You will not like it if you’re averse to abstract and ostentatiously computerised, ‘product design’ art direction that is somehow both bright and foggy, crisp and distorted.
You won’t like it if you really dislike artisanal glitches and general HUD palaver – cockroach text scuttling across the view; boxy white velocity lines; an oversized Doomguy-style character model to indicate health; damage and state changes that cause the screen to blink and reset, as though you’d jolted a cable.
Despite being announced for Switch back in 2024 and even being given an “early 2026” release window last year, Amazon Games and Glowmade have today announced that the party platformer King of Meat will be shutting up shop before it could make the jump to Nintendo systems.
While the game has now been removed from all storefronts to prevent any new purchases, the King of Meat servers will be sticking around on all currently available platforms (Steam, Xbox Series and PS5) until 9th April, so those with the game already downloaded still have a few weeks to make the most.
The studio responsible for The Simpsons: Hit & Run and Prototype, Radical Entertainment, appears to be back under a new name: New Radical Games.
An amalgamation of “Radical Entertainment plus Hothead Games,” the studio’s new website says, “it all started with Radical Entertainment back in 1991. Fast forward to 2025 and we have amassed invaluable experience along the way. We know how to capture the essence of world-class intellectual properties, and deliver licensed games that delight fans everywhere.”
Vancouver-based Radical was bought by Activision in 2008, and was shuttered little more than five years later after living out its final years as a Destiny support studio. Hothead — also based in Vancouver — went bankrupt in 2024. The new studio is led by CEO Ian Wilkinson, who co-founded Radical, and COO Tim Bennison, who served as chief operating officer at Capcom’s Vancouver studio and had previously worked at Radical, too, as executive producer and VP technology.
News of the new studio from the people who brought us games like Prototype, Scarface: The World Is Yours, and The Simpsons: Hit & Run has clearly excited fans, with many now crossing their fingers that the new outfit could be set on bringing those dormant IPs back to life.
“I LITERALLY JUST TALKED ABOUT THIS IN A THREAD ABOUT WHAT DEV STUDIOS WE WOULD REVIVE IF WE WERE RICH A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO!! HOLY S***!! I WILLED THIS INTO EXISTENCE!! I’M A GOD!!” exclaimed one very excitable fan.
“A few months ago, rumors started going around about a Prototype remaster. Today, Radical games has seemingly relaunched and their website prominently displays their older titles including Prototype and Simpsons Hit & Run,” teased another.
Late last year, IGN reported that fans thought they’d uncovered proof that 2009 action game Prototype could be getting a new lease of life. While the game has mostly remained dormant on Steam since its release 16 years ago, eagle-eyed fans spotted a flurry of updates behind the scenes via SteamDB, as well as a revealing datamine effort that has discovered a mysterious change to the game’s credits that adds in remaster studio, Iron Galaxy, and a curious reference to Ubisoft Connect.
That’s not all, though. “So one of the OG modders for the game data mined the recent update and has found a lot of interesting things,” a fan explained on the game’s subreddit. “For Prototype 1, they have added some test maps and quite a few new names in the credits. There might be some hope for a remaster after all.”
This isn’t, of course, evidence that a remaster is actually happening — right now, we’re purely going on vibes and crossed fingers — but New Radical must have been established to work on something, so keep those fingers crossed!
Calls for an official Simpsons: Hit and Run remake have similarly cropped up from time to time in the 20+ years since the original’s release, but it seems an unlikely project. In 2021 we spoke to Simpsons writer Matt Selman who said that while he “would love to see a remastered version of [Simpsons Hit & Run]“, it would be “a complicated corporate octopus to try to make that happen.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Not long after changing their project’s name from Fallout: Revelation Blues to Fallout: The New West, the developers behind a New Vegas mod remaking a cancelled Fallout game have settled on a release date for their second demo. The second publicly playable taste of this attempt to resurrect Van Buren – the version of Fallout 3 which was in development at Black Isle Studios before being cancelled in 2003 – is slated to arrive late next week.
Amazon Games has canned its failed battle royale King of Meat, following its dismal Steam performance that only ever saw a few hundred people playing.
Although the game only released in October — that’s just four months ago — developer Glowmade has confirmed the game will be formally sunsetted on April 9, 2026, after which time it will no longer be playable. All players are invited to apply for a refund via the store of the platform they bought it on (Steam, PlayStation Store, etc.), including any premium currency — called Stamps in this case — purchased, too.
Amazon had reportedly aimed for a player count in the hundreds of thousands for King of Meat, which it spent big on promoting via The Game Awards and a collaboration with YouTube star MrBeast.
“Despite the creativity and innovation Glowmade brought to King of Meat, the game has unfortunately not found the audience we hoped for,” the team wrote. “As a result, we have made the difficult decision to conclude our investment in the game, and King of Meat’s servers will close on April 9, 2026. Players will be able to access and play all existing content until then, so we encourage you to enjoy your remaining time in the game with your fellow Contenders.
“We want to sincerely thank every player who supported King of Meat and the wonderful community that formed around it. Your enthusiasm, imagination, and feedback have meant the world to us and to the team at Glowmade. We’re grateful for Glowmade’ s partnership and passion throughout this journey and wish them continued success in the future.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the team stressed that, from this point on, there are no further content updates, balance changes, or bug fixes planned for King of Meat during this sunset period, and the game — and the currency for it — can no longer be purchased.
It follows the similarly brutal action of Riot Games last week when, less than a month after the launch of its free-to-play 2v2 tag-team fighting game, 2XKO, Riot announced it was scaling back its development team. Admitting the news was “difficult to share,” producer Tom Cannon said that despite securing a “passionate core audience,” the new game “hasn’t reached the level needed to support a team of this size long term.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
In case you missed it, Friday saw news arrive of a substantial corporate reshuffle at the top of Microsoft’s gaming division. CEO Phil Spencer was revealed to be retiring at the same time Xbox president Sarah Bond was revealed to have resigned, leaving new boss and former president of Microsoft CoreAI Asha Sharma to don the crown of green plastic.
A report from The Verge has now offered a bit more detail as to how all this chair-switching went down, and unsurprisingly, it reads like an account from a struggling kingdom whose ruler’s just announced plans to abdicate.
In a post on social media, the team has revealed how “significant updates” for both the Switch 2 and Switch release have led to this delay. It doesn’t go into any further details about this, but a new release date for Juliet’s zombie-slaying adventure on the latest hybrid platform will be announced when the team has completed its preparations.
Charles Michelou – Junior Marketing Coordinator at Koffeecup
Master the Art of Being a Menace: A Pro-Tips Guide to Hoomanz!
Shadow Master: Use the Dark to Win
Smart Retreat: Learn from Every Hug
Trickster’s Kit: Turn the World Against Them
Ultimate Challenge: Master Your High Score
Pure Whimsy: Become One with Shoo
Hoomanz! has landed on Xbox Series X|S, and while it might look all hugs and whimsy, reclaiming Planet Erf from those pesky tourists requires a bit of tactical mischief.
Since you already know Shoo is the hero Erf deserves, we’ve put together a toolkit of advanced strategies to help you navigate the light, avoid the “dreaded” hugs, and maximize your scares. Here is how to master your inner menace.
Duality at Play: Ruling the Shadows
The difference between a successful spook and a forced cuddle session is often just a few inches of shadow. To keep Shoo at peak performance, remember:
The Lure: Use the Lure mechanic while standing at the edge of a light source to draw hoomanz into the dark. Never go to them; force them to play on your home turf. This is also the secret to setting up your most legendary scare combos!
The Ultimate Dash: If you’re caught in the light and a hooman spots you, your speed will drop as they move in for the hug. Pro-tip: You only have one shot at an escape dash before they catch you! If you don’t reach a bush or a rock in that single burst, you won’t have time to recharge. It’s all about the timing!
The Shadow-Chain: Don’t just look for stationary shadows. You can “chain” your movements by timing your dashes between the moving shadows of hoomanz. If a hooman is walking with a flashlight, their own shadow is your safest (and funniest) mobile base.
Hugs Instead of Defeat: Failing Forward
In Hoomanz!, “failure” is just a very cozy learning opportunity. If you find yourself trapped in a hug, use that retreat to the checkpoint to refine your strategy:
Patience is a Tool: If a specific hooman is particularly hard to reach, stop and observe. Every hooman has a “clumsy window”, a moment where they stop a little too close to the shadows to tune their banjo or scratch their head. That is your window to strike.
Don’t Trip Twice: Use your return to the checkpoint to better understand the terrain. The goal is to evolve. Avoid getting caught in the same spot twice by changing your approach angle!
Mischief and Tools: The Menace’s Toolkit
The environment is your best friend. Here’s how to exploit the tools at your disposal:
The Doll: If you’re lucky enough to find a doll, you’ve got a major tactical advantage. Place it strategically to create a diversion. It will buy you those precious seconds needed to slip past a guard or set up an elaborate prank elsewhere.
Bottled Panic: Don’t just lob objects at hoomanz randomly. By aiming at specific floor tiles or environmental props, you can literally dictate where a hooman will walk to investigate. You aren’t just playing the level; you’re setting the game!
The Yeti Bait: See an unfairly frozen Yeti? Don’t just admire it. Get close enough to be spotted by a hooman, then lead them toward the Yeti. At the last second, dash to the other side to avoid the trap yourself! Your “admirer” will fall right in, leaving them ripe for a final scare. If you’re fast enough, you can pull off this same maneuver with poison traps!
Replayable Chaos: Achievement Hunting
Every run through Erf is a chance to refine your craft and beat your personal best. Whether you’re aiming for a “Perfect Stealth” run with zero hugs or trying to maximize your points through creative scares, there’s always a reason to go back.
Only the most dedicated menaces will achieve the ultimate challenge: Scaring every single hooman in a level at the exact same time! But don’t worry if you’re a more relaxed adventurer; you can still earn plenty of badges for simpler feats, like the “Shoo Cena” for staying hidden in a bush for 30min. Every player saves Erf at their own pace!
Humor and Whimsy
At its heart, Hoomanz! is a labor of love created for you, by a team of gamers just like you. Take a moment to soak in the atmosphere of Erf, from the silly idle animations of the hoomanz to the hidden references tucked away in the scenery. You’ll find you are most effective when you stop worrying about the “mission” and truly become one with Shoo’s mischievous spirit!
Erf is in danger of being turned into a permanent tourist trap, but you have the power to save it.
Hoomanz! is available now on Xbox Series X|S. The hoomanz think they’re on vacation, but with these tips, you’re about to give them a holiday they’ll never forget. Restore peace to Erf—one spooked hooman at a time!
Hoomanz! is a stealth-adventure game packed with coziness and humour, featuring non-combat gameplay & family-friendly content. Play as Shoo, the mythical guardian of Planet Erf with a hidden dual nature, to scare away all the ignorant invading Hoomanz. Darkness is nature’s friend, light is its enemy.
Duality of Dark vs Light
On planet Erf, darkness is nature’s friend and light is its enemy. As Shoo you must navigate through the dark, otherwise you’ll get chased and squished with a hug!
Dark Shoo: Fierce, fast, scary and fully prepared to deal with the Hoomanz.
Light Shoo: Slow, vulnerable, cute and extremely huggable… and Shoo hates hugs.
Don’t let them catch you!
Scare them all away!
When you scare a Hooman, they’ll get yeeted off the planet – you’re just that scary (or they’re just that fragile). But it’s not as easy as it sounds – You must stress the Hooman first. You do that using the environment and its tools.
Your Arsenal of Stress
Lure them with a cute purrr, throw bottles, snap twigs, sabotage lights, frozen yeti jumpscares, dance around dangerous traps… Shoo’s toolkit is full of mischief. There’s no “right” way to scare off a Hooman, so get inventive!
Swift Movement!
Dash to get out of a sticky situation, or to simply explore the whimsical atmosphere of planet Erf’s nature. Champion through dash obstacle courses to save creatures and more.
Nature, Ice and Fire
As you progress through the story, your environment will get more harsh, puzzles harder and the need to save planet Erf even more dire!
Laugh Out loud
The game is packed with humour. From idle Hoomanz peeing, playing the banjo (if you can call it that), slipping on ice and generally making weird sounds, to cute underpants, their panicked waddling, hilarious screams (recorded by us Koffeecuppers) and much much more!
The noir-style cartoon detective FPS Mouse: P.I. for Hire was scheduled to arrive on Switch 2 next month, but it seems there’s been a slight delay.
Instead of its 19th March 2026 release, this title will launch on 16th April 2026. In a notice on social media, the development team said it wanted to deliver the best game possible, and just needs a few more weeks:
PlayStation’s Direct store is holding a sizeable sale on PS5 games, controllers, and even consoles, but there’s an added incentive for fans of Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding 2: On the Beach.
The pad itself isn’t exactly subtle. It’s the classic black DualSense with a big Drawbridge logo on the touchpad and decals on the grips, but it’s pretty slick if we do say so. There’s also some detailing around the symbol buttons, which is a nice touch, making them look connected.
Elsewhere in the deals, you can save $100 on the Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Collector’s Edition. It includes a digital version of the game, along with a 15-inch Magellan Man Statue and an adorable/creepy (depending on your point of view) 3-inch Dollman figure you can attach to your keys or backpack.
There are art cards and a letter from Hideo Kojima, as well as in-game items like patches and a machine gun unlock.
In our review, Simon Cardy said the game delivers on the promise of the divisive original, awarding it a 9 out of 10.
“It removes almost all of the friction that weighed down its rookie effort, delighting with a truly unpredictable story full of intrigue and malleable stealth-action playgrounds hidden in its vast, hauntingly beautiful version of Australia.”
Elsewhere, you can save on huge first-party titles like God of War: Ragnarok and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, as well as games like Stellar Blade.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.
