Month: August 2022

In this segment of New Gameplay Today, your host, Game Informer Associate Editor Wesley LeBlanc, walks you through how Saturnalia works as both a survival horror game and a roguelike. In it, you'll see him control Anita, one of the game's many playable characters, as she searches for her partner in the small town of Sardinia, Italy. Unfortunately for Anita, it's not a great time to be in the town because of some strange ritualistic things happening. That translates to a terrifying creature that stalks Anita and others through the darkness of the night and you must avoid it all while remaining alive as you search for clues to end this night of terror and misery.  In the New Gameplay Today segment below, we have more than 15 minutes of brand-new Saturnalia footage to showcase. En...

After leaking in advance yet again, Sony confirmed September’s line-up of PlayStation Plus monthly downloadable games. It also revealed the new titles arriving to the Extra and Premium subscription game catalog as well as its Premium Classics.   PlayStation Plus Monthly Games (September 6)  Available to every subscription tier, you can download these three titles beginning next week. Clicking the game link will take you to our review of it.  Granblue Fantasy Versus Need For Speed Heat Toem Remember that you have until September 5 to download August’s monthly games before they make their exit. PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium Game Catalog (September 20) Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX  Assassin’s Creed...

The year of acquisitions and shareholding antics continues.  Just today, Chinese developer-publisher NetEase announced it was acquiring Detroit: Become Human dev Quantic Dream, and now, Sony Interactive Entertainment and Tencent have increased their stakes in From Software, the prolific developer behind the Dark Souls series and this year’s mega-hit, Elden Ring.  This news comes from Gematsu, which posted a press release from Kadokawa Corporation, the parent company behind From Software. It says that through third-party allotment, Sixjoy Hong Kong, a Tencent Holdings subsidiary, has purchased 16.25% of From Software’s shares, while SIE has acquired 14.09%. Despite this, Kadokawa Corporation is still the largest shareholder of From Software, holding 69.66% of the shares.  “Th...

Quantic Dream, the developer behind games like Detroit: Become Human and Heavy Rain, has been acquired by NetEase Game, one of China’s largest video game companies whose catalog of games developed and published include Knives Out, Naraka Bladepoint, and more.  This news comes from a posting released by NetEase today that calls Quantic Dream its first studio in Europe. It’s unclear how much the acquisition cost NetEase, but the developer-publisher says it will allow the studio to continue to operate independently, focusing on creating and publishing games while supporting third-party developed titles too.  “We are thrilled to embark on an exciting new stage of growth with Quantic Dream, bound by our shared vision, mutual trust, and respect,” CEO and director of NetEase William...

If you subscribe to the digital edition of Game Informer, you can now learn all about God of War Ragnarök. Following the cover reveal, our digital issue is now live to subscribers on web browsers, iPad/iPhone, and Android devices. Individual issues will be available for purchase this afternoon. You can download the apps to view the issue by following this link. All of these digital options are included in a PowerUp Rewards Membership.

God of War Ragnarök is set to conclude the Norse era of the series, a saga that’s seen Kratos atone for his troubling past by becoming a more conscientious god and (mildly) affectionate father. In the upcoming sequel, Kratos and Atreus must stave off a preordained catastrophe, calling on old and new friends to succeed against Asgard and, hopefully, prevent all-out war.   I spoke with God of War veteran and newly appointed director Eric Williams as well as some lead UX, combat, and level designers about their experience crafting the long-awaited sequel and the most significant changes coming to the action and exploration loops. Moreover, you’ll learn about Kratos’ tools/toys, a never-before-seen dwarven realm that feels lived in, the unprecedented number of accessibility features...

Get your shovels ready because Shovel Knight Dig will burrow its way onto Switch, PC, and iOS via Apple Arcade next month.  More specifically, the exciting Shovel Knight follow-up/spin-off title will hit those platforms on Sept. 23. What's more is that if you have an Apple Arcade subscription, you can play the game for free. It'll cost $24.99 on Switch and on Steam, however. This news was revealed in a comical trailer released by Yacht Club Games, which you can watch for yourself below:  "When Drill Knight and his dastardly digging crew blast apart Shovel Knight's peaceful campsite and steal his loot, he grabs his trusty Shovel Blade and starts tunneling after them," a press release reads. "But as he and Shield Knight soon discover, this adventure goes much deeper than a sim...

Gungrave G.O.R.E. marks the return of the Gungrave franchise after almost 20 years (well, besides that VR game), and today we found out that the sequel is coming just in time for Thanksgiving. A new cinematic trailer shown during Gamescom reveals a November release date, and it runs down the wacky cast of characters and why you'll be riddling them with bullets.  The largely CG trailer sprinkles in a bit of in-game action, though you should check out this previous gameplay video for a better taste of the over-the-top combat. We’re introduced to Grave’s allies who band together to take on a fearsome foursome of antagonists looking to rule the world (probably). Fans of the PS2 games and the anime that spawned from them will be happy to know that G.O.R.E. looks as bombastic and absu...

Mafia celebrates its 20th anniversary today, and in a new blog post by Hanger 13, the principal minds behind the series reflect on its creation and history while also teasing what’s next. Longtime Mafia designers Roman Hladík (general manager), Tomáš Hřebíček (head of production/media director), and Alex Cox (game director) sat down to discuss Mafia’s entire history and their most cherished memories of the franchise. It’s worth a read if you consider yourself a diehard fan (check it out here), but the most exciting news from the conversation is the confirmation that the next game in the series is in development. Hřebíček writes:  “I'm happy to confirm we've started work on an all-new Mafia project! While it's a few years away and we can't share anything more right now, we're r...

Netflix has reportedly canceled its Resident Evil series after just one season.  This news comes from a report from Deadline, which reports that Netflix has decided not to move forward with a second season of the show following the release of Season 1 last month. As far as why, there’s no official reason as of yet but considering Netflix’s past, it’s likely that Resident Evil didn’t meet expectations in terms of both critical and audience response. The show will now join many other shows canceled after just one season at the streamer including Cowboy Bebop, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, and more. Deadline notes that Resident Evil’s release came right after the highly anticipated Season 4 of Stranger Things, which might have led to its less-than-stellar first weekend on t...