Category: Video Games

Microsoft just held its latest ID@Xbox, a digital showcase showing many fantastic indie games headed to Xbox and PC. From existing games getting updates, such as Palworld and Vampire Survivors, to new details on existing indie games, like 33 Immortals and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, today’s showcase likely had a game for just about every type of player.

If you missed today’s ID@Xbox showcase, don’t worry. IGN has recapped everything announced, which you can read below.

Astor: Blade of the Monolith is out on May 30

Originally announced as Monolith: Requiem of the Ancients before the rebranding, Astor: Blade of the Monolith is a hack-and-slash ARPG. Players control the titular character, Astor, as he ventures off to unravel the mystery regarding the disappearance of the ancients.

33 Immortals’ closed beta is set for late May

If you are looking for a co-op roguelike game with 32 of your friends, 33 Immortals’ is the game for you. The top-down action game has beautiful hand-drawn visuals reminiscent of Spiritfarer combined with constant on-screen action from something like Vampire Survivors, 33 Immortals’ closed beta is set for May 24.

Palworld is getting a massive update with new Pals this Summer

Palworld, the indie darling that has become a breakout hit for Xbox early into 2024, is getting a big update this summer that includes the introduction of four new Pals. More interestingly, the trailer showed a flamethrower weapon being wielded by a player; previously, players who wanted to use a flamethrower in Palworld needed a Foxsparks to replicate a flamethrower.

WWII-era game Commandos: Origins is getting a closed beta this Summer

Claymore Game Studios has provided a new look at the next entry in the Commandos franchise, subtitled Origins. Set in World War II, players control Jack O’Hara or one of his five companions in a series of missions that set in ” historically authentic WWII environments.”

A closed beta is set to be held sometime this Summer.

Centum is an 8-bit point-and-click adventure game coming this Summer

If you like 8-bit visuals and point-and-click adventure games, Centum might be worth adding to your watchlist. The gameplay from the reveal trailer reveals that the game will shift between medieval and modern settings. Centum is out this Summer.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage gets a new trailer, but no release date

Announced at the 2023 Game Awards, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is the next project from Don’t Nod, the creator of Life is Strange. Unlike Don’t Nod’s previous story-driven choose-your-own-adventure games, which were set in a more modern period, Lost Records is set in 1995. The latest trailer oozes 90s nostalgia, with kids skateboarding and footage of the trailer being “recorded” from a 90s-era camcorder.

Keylocker is out this Summer on PC and Xbox

A turn-based cyberpunk action game, Keylocker, will be released on PC and Xbox sometime this Summer. Set in a world where music is outlawed, players control a singer. Developer Moonana explained on the game’s Steam page that the Mario & Luigi RPG series and Chrono Trigger inspired Keylocker.

Stampede: Racing Royale is a battle royale racing game with 60 players on the course

While Mario Kart is still the franchise that dominates the kart racing subgenre, it is still limited to Nintendo hardware. Sumo Digital’s Stampede: Racing Royale might give Xbox players something to fill the Mario Kart void.

A racing game that fuses kart racing and battle royale, Stampede: Racing Royale has 60 players burning rubber on the course. The gameplay and power-ups are similar to those in a Mario Kart game, combined with the goofiness found in MediaTonic’s platform battle royale game Fall Guys.

Jackbox Games is finally making an adult-themed Party Pack coming this year

Adult Jackbox players wishing for an adult-themed Party Pack can stop praying as Jackbox Games announced today that it is finally making one.

Jackbox Naughty Pack is coming sometime this year. While there is no information on what games will be included in the party pack, the announcement reminds me of how Apples to Apples and Cards Against Humanity exist, with the Naughty Pack taking a darker and more provocative twist.

Times & Galaxy gets June release window

Copychaser Games’ upcoming point-and-click game Times & Galaxy will be available on PC and Xbox sometime in June. Payers control a robot, the first robot reporter for the prestigious Times & Galaxy newspaper. The reporter is asked to find stories across the Galaxy as an intern, hoping to get a scoop.

Sulfur is a contemporary shooter with old-school vibes coming to Xbox

A contemporary first-person shooter with roguelike elements and an old-school design. One of the user-defined tags on the game’s Steam page describes it as a “boomer shooter.” Looking at the previous trailer and the one that appeared at ID@Xbox, gameplay might remind people of the older Doom and Wolfenstein games.

Fera: The Sundered Tribes is out later this year

Massive Damage Studios has shared a new trailer for Fera: The Sundered Tribes, an action RPG that fuses monster hunting with tribe management and building mechanics. The gameplay and screenshots resemble Monster Hunter: World.

Fera, The Sundered Tribes is launching later this year.

All You Need Is Help is a quirky puzzle game from the creators of PixelJunk Monsters

If you are looking for a silyl but cozy puzzle game, PixelJunk Monsters creator Q-Games’ next project, All You Need Is Help, is hitting the sweet spot. The trailer indicates that this puzzle game is a multiplayer game in which players have time and need to place their puzzle pieces in the correct position.

All You Need Is Help is out sometime this Fall.

Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter gets new trailer, still no release date

Odd Bug Studio’s upcoming soulslike action RPG Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter got a new trailer at ID@Xbox, flaunting more of its comic book 2D art style. Players will control Arlo, who is on a quest to defeat giant beasts and bandits that are scattered throughout the world.

Hangry briefly appears at ID@Xbox

Hangry, the “snack n’ slash” RPG in which players hunt down and eat monsters, briefly appeared at ID@Xbox, where players got a brief new look at gameplay.

Promise Mascot Agency is the next game from the creators of Paradise Killer

Kaizen Game Works, the developers behind Paradise Killer, are back with a sophomore title called Promise Mascot Agency. As the name implies, players run a mascot agency, and gameplay includes card-based battles.

I promise Mascot Agency will be out sometime next year.

Five games published by Gamera Games are headed to Xbox Game Pass

Indie game publisher Gamera Games appeared at ID@Xbox today, revealing that five games—Depersonalization, Firework, Volcano Princess, Kelperth, and The Rewinder—are headed to Game Pass. All these games were released initially on PC before today’s announcement.

Over 15 games from the Triple-I Initiative showcase will be playable on Xbox

Earlier this month, the Triple-I Initiative showcase highlighted many indie delights that are headed shortly. Games such as Palworld Arena and Cat Quest 3 appeared. Towards the end of the showcase, it was revealed that 17 games from that sizzle during ID@Xbox will be playable on Xbox.

Dungeons of Hinterberg gets a colorful new trailer focusing on gameplay

A fusion of social sim and action RPG genres with cel-shaded graphics, Dungeons of Hinterberg is set in the Austrian Alps where players control Luisa, a law trainee suffering burnout who opts to drop the corporate life and trade it in for the rugged life of living in the wild and conquer dungeons.

Vampire Survirors: Operation Guns DLC gets one more trailer before its May 9 release date

Vampire Survivors: Operation Guns, known affectionately as the Contra DLC, is headed to all platforms early next month. We got another look at the new DLC before it gets into players’ hands. But the most interesting thing about the new trailer is that at the end, viewers get a “one more thing…” revealing that Brad Fang, a character who first appeared in Contra: Hard Corps, will be featured in the DLC.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Today, Amazon is offering the powerful and high capacity Anker Prime 20,000mAh USB Power Bank for only $89.98, a hefty 31% price drop from its original $130 MSRP. This is the successor to the Anker 737 that we deemed the best Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally charger. It boasts an absolutely massive 200W of USB power delivery to charge all of your mobile devices simultaneously.

Anker Prime 20,000mAh Power Bank for $90

with 200W of USB Type-C Power Delivery

The Anker Prime can be used like any other power bank; it does a fine job of charging any of your standard mobile electronics. However, its main purpose is to charge more power hungry devices like laptops, portable gaming systems, and high end phones. It has two USB Type-C ports and one USB Type-A port. Each USB Type C port supports up to 100W of Power Delivery. In fact, both ports can charge 100W at the same time. If you want to charge using all three ports simultaneously, then the power distribution will be 100W (Type C), 60W (Type-C) and 40W (Type-A). The 20,000mAh is under the TSA’s 27,000mAh limit so it can be brought onto airplanes; it can charge a Nintendo Switch OLED about 4 times, iPhone 15 Pro Max about 4 times, Steam Deck about 3 times, and an ASUS ROG Ally about 7 times.

What makes the Prime unique compared to most other power banks is the LCD digital readout which displays a lot of useful real-time information like remaining battery capacity, power input, and power output from each port. The power bank measures 5″x2″x2″ and weighs in at 1.2 pounds.

The Anker Prime is an excellent Steam Deck / ASUS ROG Ally charger

The Anker Prime is an outstanding charger for the Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally portable gaming handhelds. The Steam Deck accepts up to 38W of USB Power Delivery and the ASUS ROG Ally accepts up to 65W. That means the Prime can charge three Steam Decks or two ASUS ROG Allys simultaneously at their maximum charging rate. Both the ROG Ally and Steam Deck suffer from a short battery life when gaming on the go. For instance, when playing most games at 60 FPS, you’re likely looking at four hours of battery life for the Steam Deck and far less with the ASUS ROG Ally, which is equipped with a measly 2600mAh battery. During our Steam Deck review, we even found games like God of War or Spider-Man would tap out in under 2-hours as well. At the end of the day, you’ll never get the full potential out of your Steam Deck or ROG Ally if you’re not equipped with a decent portable charger.

Game of Thrones is reportedly the basis of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game set from The Finals publisher Nexon.

Sources told Redanian Intelligence that the game will at least partially be set in the North with locations such as Winterfell and The Wall both featured. It will reportedly take place around Seasons 4 and 5 of the hit HBO show, when Roose Bolton is Warden of the North and Jon Snow and Sam Tarley are still posted at The Wall.

Players will allegedly explore Westeros through a story campaign threaded throughout the MMO, coming across the aforementioned characters and others as they do, according to Redanian Intelligence. The HBO show cast apparently will not return for the game, and players will create a brand new character for themselves, with male and female options.

The game was described as a package similar to The Elder Scrolls Online, though no release window for the alleged MMO was shared. IGN has asked Nexon for comment.

Nexon, as well as publishing Embark Studios’ hit shooter The Finals, has hundreds of millions of registered users across all its games, including Dungeon & Fighter, MapleStory, and KartRider.

Despite having a critically acclaimed TV show based on a critically acclaimed ongoing novel series, Game of Thrones hasn’t had as much of a presence in the video game space. Beyond a handful of strategy games, an RPG based on the TV show was released in 2012 to poor reviews, while Telltale Games created an episodic, story heavy game in 2014 that failed to get a second season. Interestingly, a Game of Thrones MMORPG for mobile was announced by Netmarble in 2022 but hasn’t been heard from since.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Escape From Tarkov developer Battlestate Games has been called “shameless” and “tone deaf” over its response to controversy caused by a $250 expansion, with fans and even its esports associate calling out the studio.

The community behind Escape From Tarkov — a hardcore and realistic online first-person shooter currently in beta — erupted on April 26 after Battlestate announced the $250 Unheard Edition upgrade, which added an exclusive player-versus-everyone mode amid other extras, and notably wasn’t deemed downloadable content by the developer. This meant those who’d bought the $150 Edge of Darkness edition of Escape From Tarkov, which came with a Season Pass and thus “free access to all subsequent DLCs”, wouldn’t obtain this new content without spending another $250.

Many players therefore deemed the Unheard Edition “pay-to-win”, “unacceptable”, “disrespectful”, and more, but immense backlash has now arisen in response to the developer’s official comment on the matter, which was seemingly intended to rectify the situation.

Nik Buyanov, Battlestate COO and studio head, posted on Reddit to announce owners of the Edge of Darkness edition would get access to the mode upon Escape From Tarkov’s full launch but couldn’t yet because of server capacity issues.

Players would “have the opportunity to test this mode by purchasing the Unheard edition of the game”, Buyanov said, announcing a 50% discount for owners of the Edge of Darkness edition. These players would therefore be paying $275 in total to access this part of the Escape From Tarkov beta.

Another Reddit post came from Buyanov after this one didn’t go well. “I would like to say that I am very sorry that fans and the game community in general are experiencing these feelings,” he said, the wording of which further upset many Escape From Tarkov players.

“Fake apology,” said redamid. “‘I’m sorry you feel this way’ does not equal ‘I’m sorry I betrayed you’.” ZeroPointZero_ chimed in too: “‘I’m sorry you feel this way’ is really not how an apology should sound,” they said. “I don’t really expect much better than this, however, considering all that has happened. The corrective actions are now on the right track, but hardly enough. Introducing pay-to-win features that are infinitely more potent than the ones in Edge of Darkness is just tone deaf.”

Buyanov said the reaction, “which he did not foresee”, will affect future decisions and announced a handful of other changes to these editions. PvE will be made available to those who own the Edge of Darkness edition but only “in waves” because of the server capacity issues, though it’s unclear how far apart these waves will come.

He also promised to balance the items and perks in this addition but provide more to those who already bought it for $250, and said Battlestate will continue to work on other patches and content for Escape From Tarkov, among other things. “Thank you for your time, love and hate, and thank you for your increased attention to the current situation,” Buyanov said.

These changes aren’t enough for many, however. “Saying you’re ‘sorry about the feeling we are experiencing’ is such as BS statement,” said broken-cactus. “Clearly you’re not sorry for what you did. While this is a good step, honestly you guys have shown your true colors with this whole fiasco. I’m just very disappointed, and I hope you guys will take some time to build back the trust you lost with this community.”

A comment from paulfunyan suggested Battlestate had made false promises in the past, and said the company is asking for too much money for a game currently in beta. “You’ve had the privilege of us testing your game for the past seven years, and this is the product you’re delivering. If you expect anyone to pay more money to test this then you’re bats**t insane,” they said. “Shameless.”

Escape From Tarkov’s Reddit is currently full of fans sharing similar thoughts, though Battlestate’s recent actions appear to be a step too far for many. A post from WebFirm4870 with a screenshot of them uninstalling the game has 3,500 upvotes. Mleeimlele’s post telling other players not to fall for the apology has 6,700 upvotes. A screenshot of the Wikipedia page for a “non-apology apology” has 5,100 upvotes.

But the backlash took a step further when Evasion GG, the first Escape From Tarkov esports team and a host of more than 200 tournaments for the game, posted on X/Twitter to claim Battlestate is a bad company to work with as a result of “control issues, blatant nepotism” and more.

“We have produced over 200 Tarkov shows but if you’ve wondered why we haven’t been as active as we once were it’s because we will not be railroaded into doing events that we don’t believe in,” Evasion said.

“What happened to the Tarkov community over the past week is what’s been happening to us for the last two years dealing with Battlestate. Promises not kept, gaslighting, event cancelations, control issues, blatant nepotism, [and] all while wasting our time, money, and efforts. This year we found out how terribly they have been treating the smaller event orgs as well. Now this treatment has spread to the player base.

“We’ve held back sharing this information but seeing how the community was treated as a whole recently was too much. We will not create Tarkov events until we see things truly change.”

IGN has asked Battlestate for comment regarding these allegations and the community backlash.

Escape From Tarkov was released in closed alpha in August 2016 before its closed beta was released in July 2017. It has stayed in this form ever since despite regular updates and paid add-ons, with no word on a proper launch date as of yet.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.