Funding for its unannounced FPS has been “cancelled”.
Romero Games, the studio co-founded by DOOM co-creator and his wife, John & Brenda Romero, has been hit with layoffs after funding for an unannounced FPS was “cancelled”.
VideoGamer reports that the upcoming shooter was being funded by Microsoft, specifically Bethesda — which works on the current iteration of DOOM. Most of the studio’s output was on PC and mobile, but it did release the strategy RPG Empire of Sin on Switch back in 2020. And it goes without saying that John Romero is one of the most influential figures in the industry.
Helldivers 2 is Coming to Xbox on August 26: Pre-Order Today
Katherine BaskinSenior Community Manager, Arrowhead Games Studios
Summary
Helldivers 2 is coming to Xbox Series X|S August 26.
Dive into details of the upcoming third-person co-op shooter, Helldivers 2.
Join our ranks and fight off threats to Democracy in an ever-evolving Galactic War.
A new dawn is upon us. Super Earth is expanding its operations and opening new enlistment centres. Xbox players, your opportunity to enlist is coming when Helldivers 2deploys to Xbox Series X|S on August 26.
We spoke to Helldivers 2 Game Director Mikael Eriksson on what this launch means to the studio:
“We know gamers have been asking for this for some time and we are so excited to bring more Helldivers into our game. We have so much more in store for the future months and years – and the more players we have the more stories we can tell! The fight for Super Earth has only just begun.”
Soldier, it’s time to get you caught up.
Tools of the Trade
Helldivers 2 is a cooperative, third-person feast of destruction where you and up to three squad mates step into the boots of an elite class of soldiers whose mission is to spread peace, liberty, and Managed Democracy using the biggest, baddest, and most explosive tools in the galaxy.
You will have a host of superpowered, customizable primary weapons at your disposal, as well as the ability to call on more powerful weapons called stratagems during play – there’s no limit to the damage you can do to the enemies of democracy.
The Ongoing War
Once you’re enlisted, you’ll be our boots on ground, fighting in the Galactic War, a real-time metagame where players work together to complete operations, liberate planets, and spread Managed Democracy to the furthest reaches of the galaxy.
In 2184, after many years of peace, the enemies of Super Earth emerged again to challenge the supremacy of our liberty. The Helldivers, Super Earth’s peacekeeping force, have fought valiantly against these enemies.
The Helldivers have pushed back the scourge of the Terminids, a race of insect-like aliens whose only guiding principles are to reproduce and overwhelm. They’ve faced down the Automatons, the collective of bloodthirsty robots coded for murder and socialist violence. And they fought for the freedom of Super Earth against the Illuminate, a race of mind-controlling xenophobic aliens aided by powerful technology and a will to destroy humanity.
August will be here before we know it, which means we’ve got to get you officially enlisted – we start taking pre-orders for both the Standard Edition and the Super Citizen Edition of Helldivers 2 today! With cross play on all platforms, get ready to add your strength to our ranks.
Together Helldivers, we’ll even the odds and show the bugs, bots, and squids the true meaning of democracy.
See you on the frontlines – Helldivers 2 is coming to Xbox Series X|S on August 26, 2025! Get ready to give ’em hell.
Pre-order now for three armor sets:
• ‘TR-7 Ambassador of the Brand’ – Promotional armor made by SUMY Corp. as part of a highly successful marketing campaign for frozen yogurt.
• ‘TR-62 Knight’ – Crafted to deliver Justice to the darkest crevices of the galaxy.
• ‘TR-9 Cavalier of Democracy’ – Bearers of this armor ride no equine mount, but are nonetheless borne to battle atop the trusty steed of Liberty.
The Galaxy’s Last Line of Offence.
Enlist in the Helldivers and join the fight for freedom across a hostile galaxy in a fast, frantic, and ferocious third-person shooter.
URGENT BROADCAST – SUPER EARTH ARMED FORCES
Freedom. Peace. Democracy.
Your Super Earth-born rights. The key pillars of our civilization.
Of our very existence.
But the war rages on. And everything is once again under threat.
Join the greatest military force the galaxy has ever seen and make this a safe and free place to live.
BECOME A LEGEND
You will be assembled into squads of up to four Helldivers and assigned strategic missions.
Watch each other’s back – friendly fire is an unfortunate certainty of war, but victory without teamwork is impossible.
LOADOUTS
Rain down freedom from above, sneak through enemy territory, or grit your teeth and charge head-first into the jaws of combat.
How you deliver liberty is your choice; you’ll have access to a wide array of explosive firepower, life-saving armor and battle-changing stratagems… the jewel in every Helldiver’s arsenal.
REQUISITION
Super Earth recognises your hard work with valuable Requisition. Use it to access different rewards that benefit you, your squad, your destroyer ship and our overall war effort.
THREATS
Everything on every planet wants you dead. That’s what we’re dealing with.
Each enemy has distinct and unpredictable characteristics, tactics, and behavior – but they all fight ferociously and without fear or morality.
THE GALACTIC WAR
Capturing enemy planets, defending against invasions, and completing missions will contribute to our overall effort.
This war will be won or lost depending on the actions of everyone involved.
We stand together, or we fall apart.
Pre-order now for three armor sets:
• ‘TR-7 Ambassador of the Brand’ – Promotional armor made by SUMY Corp. as part of a highly successful marketing campaign for frozen yogurt.
• ‘TR-62 Knight’ – Crafted to deliver Justice to the darkest crevices of the galaxy.
• ‘TR-9 Cavalier of Democracy’ – Bearers of this armor ride no equine mount, but are nonetheless borne to battle atop the trusty steed of Liberty.
Edition includes:
– HELLDIVERS 2 full game for Xbox Series X|S.
– ‘DP-53 Savior of the Free’ Armour Set.
– ‘Will of the People’ Cape.
– ‘MP-98 Knight’ Weapon.
– Super Citizen Status.
– Stratagem Hero Ship Game.
– Premium Warbond Token
Enlist in the Helldivers and join the fight for freedom across a hostile galaxy in a fast, frantic, and ferocious third-person shooter.
URGENT BROADCAST – SUPER EARTH ARMED FORCES
Freedom. Peace. Democracy.
Your Super Earth-born rights. The key pillars of our civilization.
Of our very existence.
But the war rages on. And everything is once again under threat.
Join the greatest military force the galaxy has ever seen and make this a safe and free place to live.
BECOME A LEGEND
You will be assembled into squads of up to four Helldivers and assigned strategic missions.
Watch each other’s back – friendly fire is an unfortunate certainty of war, but victory without teamwork is impossible.*
LOADOUTS
Rain down freedom from above, sneak through enemy territory, or grit your teeth and charge head-first into the jaws of combat.
How you deliver liberty is your choice; you’ll have access to a wide array of explosive firepower, life-saving armour and battle-changing stratagems… the jewel in every Helldiver’s arsenal.
REQUISITION
Super Earth recognises your hard work with valuable Requisition. Use it to access different rewards that benefit you, your squad, your destroyer ship and our overall war effort.
THREATS
Everything on every planet wants you dead. That’s what we’re dealing with.
Each enemy has distinct and unpredictable characteristics, tactics, and behavior – but they all fight ferociously and without fear or morality.
THE GALACTIC WAR
Capturing enemy planets, defending against invasions, and completing missions will contribute to our overall effort.
This war will be won or lost depending on the actions of everyone involved.
We stand together, or we fall apart.
Helldivers 2 is developed by Arrowhead Game Studios and Nixxes Software. Gameplay requires internet access and paid-for subscription on console (sold separately).
Helldivers 2 is coming to Xbox Series X and S next month in a shock announcement that sees Sony publish a game on PlayStation’s rival consoles.
Arrowhead’s explosive co-op third-person shooter launches on Xbox on August 26, 2025, a livestream confirmed.
Developing…
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Warcraft Rumble was a high-profile attempt by Blizzard to bring the Warcraft universe into the lucrative mobile space. Development began in 2016, with the game itself releasing in 2023 as a free-to-play tower defense RTS inspired by the likes of Clash of Clans. The PC version launched late last year.
In a blog post, Blizzard admitted Warcraft Rumble “struggled to find its footing relative to our ambition for its long-term success,” and that recent attempts to improve the popularity of the game weren’t enough to sustain development.
The news comes as part of a bloodbath at Microsoft that saw 4%, or just over 9,000 staff, cut from the company. While the majority of those layoffs were outside the gaming business, Xbox studios were hit hard. Rare’s Everwild, for example, was canceled, as was the Perfect Dark reboot. The Initiative was closed.
Alex Apple, client engineer at Blizzard, took to LinkedIn to say they had been laid off “along with the entire Warcraft Rumble team.” Other developers on the game reported similar.
In its blog post, Blizzard said Warcraft Rumble will remain playable but will only receive updates focused on regular, systemic in-game events and bug fixes.
Dear Warcraft Rumble Community,
We have an important update on the future of Warcraft Rumble. After much deliberation, we’ve arrived at an extremely hard decision. Moving forward, we’ll continue supporting Rumble with updates focused on regular, systemic in-game events and bug fixes, but no new content.
Warcraft Rumble began development nine years ago as a love letter to Azeroth and launched back in 2023, reflecting input from enthusiastic players around the globe and the effort of a passionate team — some of whom continue to support Rumble or other Blizzard games, and some we’ve had to sadly part ways with. Since launch, Rumble has struggled to find its footing relative to our ambition for its long-term success, and for some time now the team has been listening to player feedback, refocusing in certain areas, and exploring different options. Some of that work showed signs of progress, but ultimately wasn’t enough to put the game on a path to sustainability.
During this transition, we are focused on supporting our teammates. We’re deeply grateful to everyone at Blizzard and in the community for helping bring Warcraft Rumble to life and embracing the joy that makes this game so special. Your enthusiasm and feedback mean the world to us.
Fans of the game reacted with disappointment to the news, but there is little surprise given how the game has gone over the last two years. Most players are now waving goodbye to Warcraft Rumble and its community, while sending messages of support to the affected developers.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
VOID Interactive has responded to player backlash after it made changes to the PC version of its controversial shooter Ready or Not in order to secure a console release, citing “misconceptions and misinformation” about the amendments.
At the time, VOID insisted the changes were “small enough that most people here wouldn’t notice if we didn’t say anything,” but it “wanted to be transparent” with its players. The news has caused Ready or Not’s Steam user review rating to hit “mostly negative” for recent reviews, although overall the review rating remains “very positive.” Most of the negative reviews complain about “censorship.”
Now, in a new statement, VOID set out “full visibility” into what has, and has not, changed, including before-and-after screenshots. It insisted “the effects of gore and violence have not been toned down.”
“We recently shared that Ready or Not’s PC version underwent minor content changes to support stability and align with policies enforced by global platforms and age rating bodies,” the statement began. “These adjustments were made to ensure a smooth global launch across platforms — while fully preserving the game’s tone, themes, and intensity.
“Unfortunately, we’ve seen misconceptions and misinformation circulating around the scope of these changes. We want to ensure our entire community has full visibility into what has — and has not — changed. We’re including before-and-after visuals to show that the game’s tone, atmosphere, and graphical impact remain intact. The effects of gore and violence — key to the game’s immersive realism — have not been toned down.”
VOID stressed that missions such as Elephant, Neon Tomb, and the infamous Valley of the Dolls “remain unchanged,” adding it has “always believed in creative freedom and the right to build experiences that push boundaries in the service of immersion and realism. That will not change.”
“At the same time, we operate in a global ecosystem of platform standards, age rating boards, and local legal restrictions,” the studio added. “While we may disagree with how some content is treated, we’ve only made changes where absolutely required, and only to the letter of the regulations — no further. As a hyper-realistic tactical FPS, Ready or Not faces different scrutiny than more stylized or fictional games. That’s a reality of the world we publish in — not a change in our creative vision or values.”
Warning! Potentially distrubing images of Ready or Not follow:
The team then outlined specifically what the “six targeted visual changes” entailed:
Twisted Nerve: The girl is now depicted as sleeping instead of convulsing
A Lethal Obsession: Nudity involving the ghillie suit suspect has been adjusted
Hide and Seek: Female hostages now wear underwear
Narcos: Police informant hostage now wears underwear
23 Megabytes a Second: ‘Photo of Minors’ objective model was revised, also to better connect narratively with the later ‘Sinuous Trail’ mission
Post-mortem dismemberment has been disabled (note: dismemberment for living characters remains unchanged).
“It’s not about the specifics, it’s a matter of principle,” wrote one respondent in the comments. “Any amount of censorship is too much.” Another said: “great, so you’re saying you’re hearing us, but refusing to listen.” “Yeah, damaging the vision of the game just because of console port?” added someone else. “Get a grip, at least put a slider in the settings. What is this?”
While most of the 1,200+ comments continue to complain about censorship, not all players are aggrieved: “Honestly, not that big of a deal as long as overall map atmosphere stays good,” said another.
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.
Three former higher-ups at Ubisoft have been found guilty of sexually and psychologically harassing the women who worked for them at the company’s Paris studio. A French court handed out suspended sentences to the three executives, as well as fines, the highest of which was €45,000. It’s the final ruling in a sordid trial that has seen the men accused of forcefully trying to kiss female employees, ordering them to do handstands in skirts, and angrily throwing equipment across the office.
Nintendo of Canada recently announced that it would be raising the price of pretty much all of its products and services excluding the Switch 2, with more concrete details to follow on 1st August 2025.
The thing is, eagle-eyed fans have already discovered what the new pricing structure for Nintendo Switch Online will be, since specifics have already been divulged via the Switch eShop.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 got its hotly anticipated Siege Mode update last week, and while fans are enjoying it, crashes and disconnects have marred the experience.
Siege Mode is Space Marine 2’s take on the classic video game Horde mode. It sees teams of three players fight against increasingly difficult waves of Tyranid and Chaos enemies for exclusive rewards.
Players have responded to Siege Mode and its accompanying Patch 8 well, and Space Marine 2 has seen a surge of players on Steam at least, where player data is public. But connection problems are on occasion ruining the experience, especially when they arrive deep into the waves.
“I just spent almost three hours in a Siege round. FINALLY got some good brothers who know what they are doing. Most epic experience I had in a long time. So looking forward to the rewards and feeling of accomplished, finally beating it. BUT NO MID FIGHT LAST ROUND BEFORE EVAC THE SERVERS JUST GIVE UP. NO MONEY, NO EXP, NO SKINS AND NOT EVEN AN SATISFYING END TO THE GLORIOUS FIGHT THAT ME AND MY BROTHERS HAD. I had fun, yes but essentially I just got robbed almost three hours of progress. That feels so incredibly insulting, I can’t man…
“Please anybody in charge I know you’re working already on it, with great haste too probably… BUT STILL, BY THE EMPEROR, WHAT THE WARP.”
In response, Space Marine 2 developer Saber Interactive and publisher Focus Entertainment have released the 8.1 hotfix, which is now live on every platform. It fixes various crashes and connectivity issues, as well as a bug preventing the reward for completing 25 waves in Siege Mode to unlock.
The hope is this hotfix stamps out the Siege Mode problems reported by the likes of poor old Justusowesme like a Space Marine stomping on the head of a xenos, but it’s early days yet.
Looking ahead, there’s a lot of exciting content coming to Space Marine 2. While Patch 9 will focus on balance changes only, Patch 10 adds a new Chaos vs Chaos PvP mode, the new Power Axe melee weapon, and the new Techmarine class. Check out all the Space Marine 2 Patch 10 details here.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 8.1 hotfix patch notes:
Fixed several crashes
Fixed several issues causing disconnects
Fixed Siege Mode rewards from wave 25+
Lots of small fixes to Siege Mode map geometry
Fixed bug that was causing random enemies to get stronger much faster in infinite waves, causing one shot deaths randomly (Note: enemies are still going to get stronger but it will be not random and more consistent)
Fixed a bug in Siege Mode that occurred when a player would join a game in progress, the game would not apply difficulty modifiers correctly.
Fixed a bug in UI that was causing inability to change colour presets
Minor localization fixes
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Hey, deez two. Sorry, Hades 2 has just gotten a fresh patch following on from its beefy Unseen update last month. The big news? Supergiant say this latest batch of tweaks “will likely be our final patch before our v1.0 launch”.
Damn, maybe it’s time for me to dive back in and get some extra practice taking down those pesky sirens that try to smite you mid-gig like they’re aquatic Van Halen. Ok, maybe I actually mean fire the game back up to stare at Narcissus. Sue me.
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