Gaming

The Xbox Game Pass catalog continues to grow, with the latest addition being a game that is releasing on Xbox for the first time. Maquette, a first-person puzzle game developed by Graceful Decay and published by Annapurna, is out now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows Games through Game Pass. Maquette released in March 2021 for PS4, PS5, …

Overwatch 2’s engagement and player investment is declining, the game’s publisher Activision Blizzard admits. In its Q2 2023 earnings report, Activision Blizzard revealed its free-to-play shooter has “declined sequentially” this quarter. However, it thinks the game’s next major update, Overwatch 2: Invasion, which releases next month, should help circumvent the issue. “While engagement and player investment in Overwatch 2 declined …

Despite featuring many of the same weapon types, different games have varied ways of tackling how each of them works and feels. Sometimes this evolves through sequels, which is clearly evident when looking how how bows worked between The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II. The decisions that lead to this change were numerous, according to …

The launch of Diablo 4 propelled Blizzard’s financials to record levels as over 10 million played the game. Reporting its latest financial earnings, Activision Blizzard said Blizzard revenue grew over 160% year-over-year and operating income more than tripled year-over-year, each setting new quarterly records driven by the launch of Diablo 4 in early June. However, Activision Blizzard has yet to …

Comic-Con International in San Diego announced today that it has partnered up with Entertainment Cruise Productions to produce Comic-Con: The Cruise, a new experience launching in 2025 that will bring fans and creators together on a five-day cruise experience from Tampa, Florida, to Cozumel, Mexico onboard Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas. Obviously, no guests have been announced yet, but …

Gif: Nintendo / BearUNLV / Kotaku Every Mario Kart player knows the pain of the blue shell (or spiny shell, as it’s technically called). When used, the flying, homing projectile will jet for the racer currently in first place and slams down on them with a concentrated explosion. It’s a menace. Anyone who’s winning a race in these games is …

If you’ve started compiling a collection of digital games, you probably already know just how limited the Switch’s base storage capacity is. The Switch and Switch OLED have 32GB and 64GB of internal storage, respectively. Some of that is reserved for the OS. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes up over 18GB of storage all by itself. …

The official Forza Horizon 5 edition of the Thrustmaster Eswap XR is on sale for just $140 (normally $180) at Amazon. That’s the lowest price yet for the Xbox Series X’s best modular controller. The Thrustmaster Eswap XR is a wired pro controller built specifically for Xbox Series X|S, though it also supports PC. The gamepad’s main feature is its …

Dave The Diver is taking the world by storm. With a million copies sold in its first month, this indie title from Korean developers Mintrocket crosses diving and fishing with running a restaurant, and creates one of the best games we’ve seen in 2023. Here’s why. This New Fantasy Beat ‘Em Up Is Like Dragon’s Crown With Druids Right now, …

Though Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard has cleared its biggest hurdle (the FTC), the deal isn’t quite done yet. And all parties involved have given themselves more time to finalize the deal. We discuss that, plus Sony finally signing its 10-year Call of Duty deal with Microsoft, the death of Xbox Live Gold and its somewhat confusing replacement in the form …