Jump Space devs outline a bevy of early access roadmap updates and an easy-on-your-wallet price point

Jump Space! It’s a game with a name that’ll have you thinking, “wait, that’s not what it was called, was it?” And you’d be right about that, as due to some trademark problems, the game was rebranded from Jump Ship to its new name Jump Space back in August. Later that same month, developer Keepsake Games announced the game would be launching into early access September 19th. And now, as in today September 9th now, Keepsake Games have shared an early access roadmap for the game, as well as how much it’ll cost you.

Read more

Hollow Knight: Silksong review

I want to give Hollow Knight: Silksong a thrashing. A fully suited C-suite bollocking. I want to verbally repay unto it every cruel death, every pernickety jumping puzzle, every time-thieving runback it’s inflicted on me across the past five days.

But I can’t. For every moment of frustration, there are five of relief, of joy, of beauty even. As in Hollow Knight, Silksong stretches itself over a vast Metroidvania map, and yet its intricacies – its narrowest tunnels leading to grand new regions, its more acrobatic and tailorable combat movesets – make for constantly rewarding exploration, as well as some thrillingly free-flowing bugfights. There have been a couple times when I never wanted to play it again, and many more when I wish I never had to stop.

Read more

Dune: Awakening’s first major free update is live, boasting all-new murders, secrets, contracts and tattoos

Dune: Awakening has received its first “major” free update, a continuation of the MMO survival game’s story following the revelations of Act 3. What revelations were these? Honestly, lads, I never made it that far. My character is presently a furry chunk of worm jerky, crammed into a half-built shack after accidentally encasing herself in the furniture, so I couldn’t spill the beans even if I knew. But I can reveal there are “gruesome murders” to investigate from this point on, and further opportunities to dig up the misbegotten secrets of Arrakis. Here’s a trailer.

Read more

Possible GTA 6 parody websites hint at in-game activities, including buying tackle from Hookers Galore and posting creepy corndogs

GTA 6 will feature a bunch of in-game websites with real-world URLs, going by various domain registrations spotted by an active and efficient dataminer. The site URLs offer potential clues about the businesses and organisations you might patronise, during your time in Vice City. They include what sound like parody versions of ride-sharing app Uber and communication network WhatsApp, together with a government website for Leonida, the fictional US state and parody of Florida in which Rockstar’s new Grand Theft Auto takes place.

One of the other rumoured GTA 6 websites appears to feature “hookers galore”. I give odds of 6-4 that this will prove to be an in-game fishing supplier, ho ho. And then there’s “myboyhasacreepycorndog.com”. I give odds of 3-2 that “corndog” means “penis”, har har. It’s GTA, isn’t it. There’s absolutely a dick joke in there somewhere.

Read more

Hollow Knight: Silksong’s first patch makes some early bosses slightly easier, out now in Steam and GOG beta

The notes for Hollow Knight: Silksong‘s first proper post-release patch have arrived. Team Cherry have been busy fixing bugs and making some “slight balance adjustments in the early game”, which you can now give a go early via beta branches on Steam and GOG.

That’ll mean you’re testing the changes ahead of the update’s planned full deployment next week, with Team Cherry aiming for a mid-week arrival “barring any unforeseen issues”. Now you know that, let’s get into the changes, which the studio have outlined in a post on the Steamy platform.

Read more

Hollow Knight: Silksong multiplayer mods are already starting to arrive, and it’s not even been a Skonging week

Ok, that was quick. Hollow Knight: Silksong has been out less than a week, and no less than two modders have already had a crack at getting multiplayer working in it, so you can take on those pesky bosses with some co-op aid or moral support.

Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, the Skong modding scene has exploded out of the gates with the same level of gusto folks have had for just playing the base version of the long-awaited metroidvania. Then again, it’s one thing for folks to be putting out a bunch of smaller scale tweaks that can help make things easier, and another for them to turn a one player game into a more than one player game.

Read more

Subscription models like Xbox Game Pass are “not properly valuing” developers, says former Bethesda exec

Former Bethesda marketing chief Pete Hines has been chatting about the ups and downs of videogame subscription platforms, such as Microsoft’s Game Pass service, GeForce Now and whatever the hell Ubisoft are calling theirs at the minute. Subisoftscription? UbiPassPlus? Answers on a postcard.

Hines is broadly of the opinion that subscription platforms are failing many of the developers who sign up to publish through them, though he cautions that his experience is out-of-date – he retired from Bethesda in October 2023.

Read more

Starfield’s second DLC might involve a “Terran Armada”, and that sounds quite whelming

Steam tells me I’ve spent 171 hours of my life to this point playing Starfield. It’s not an insignificant amount of time, but it pales in comparison to how long I’ve spent with the myriad other works of developers Bethesda. Said devs now look like they might have fired up the tease rocket for the space RPG‘s second major expansion. If they have, the very little they’ve shown off so far hasn’t gotten me right on board to play more.

Read more