This week, PlayStation 5 players were able to join their Xbox and PC counterparts for the first time in Halo: Campaign Evolved. Console gamers are able to use a classic Halo feature that the PC port seemingly lacks: split-screen co-op. However, a new PC mod restores access to this missing feature.

A Halo: Campaign Evolved split-screen co-op mod was posted on Nexus Mods by user Jpurd. As noted by Jpurd, the mod doesn't do anything except unlock the local split-screen option that was already in the game.

There are some drawbacks to this AI-created mod. It can only handle two players via split-screen mode even though the game can support 4-player co-op. Users also note that it only works if both players are using a controller, and the mod may be limited to Steam users. Anyone playing Campaign Evolved on PC Game Pass or who purchased a copy from the Microsoft Store may not be able to use the mod at all.

The rollout of Campaign Evolved hit a snag last week when players who paid extra for early access on Xbox weren't able to jump into the game alongside PC and PS5 ahead of the official launch. Players were also upset about reports that they needed a PS Plus account to use split-screen co-op, but that turned out to not be the case.

It's too soon to say how well Halo: Campaign Evolved will perform across all platforms, but the game's secret ending appears to tease a remake of Halo 2 as well. In the meantime, players can use these codes to claim free armor sets in Campaign Evolved.

When Saudi Arabia's leveraged buyout of Electronic Arts is finalized, the newly private company won't have to release any financial documents to the public. In the meantime, EA's latest financial disclosure has revealed that CEO Andrew Wilson received a massive $30 million increase in his compensation this year, and he wasn't the only EA executive to reap the rewards.

Per EA's report filed with the Security and Exchange Commission, Wilson's compensation package in the previous fiscal year rose by $8 million to $38 million. That total includes bonus payments and stock options. The report also notes that Wilson's $38 million payout has a 305-1 ratio to the $126,612 annual total compensation received by EA's median employee.

Another eye-opening fact uncovered in the report notes that Wilson only flies on private planes rather than commercial airliners. According to the filing, Wilson received this perk to ensue "his personal safety and that of his family based on threat intelligence." No particular threats were shared, but it was noted that Wilson's private flights extended to his personal use as well.

The sky-high salaries of other EA execs was also shared, including the following individuals:

President of EA Entertainment, Laura Miele -- $13.7 million
Chief Financial Officer, Stuart Canfield -- $11.3 million
Chief Legal Officer, Jake Schatz -- $8.4 million
Chief People Officer, Mala Singh -- $8.3 million

Like Wilson's compensation packages, these totals include bonus payments and stock options. The report goes on to tout EA's success in implementing its AI strategy and the financial performance of Battlefield 6 as company highlights. However, EA laid off staff from all four studios under the Battlefield Studios banner earlier this year while characterizing the cuts as a realignment.

Miele recently declared that the company's use of AI has led to a "real rise in creativity" among developers who have embraced it. EA's sale to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has also cleared a major hurdle following approval of the European Commission. For now, the deal hasn't been closed yet.

World of Warcraft Classic's Hardcore servers are hard enough without having to worry about ambushes from underground, but that's exactly what's happening to unsuspecting low-level players in the game's Stonetalon Mountains zone. 

The recent patch 1.15.9 introduced various quality-of-life updates to WoW Classic, including improvements to raid frames, nameplates, and even the introduction of the modern game's UI edit mode. Unfortunately, as detailed by players on Reddit and a PSA on Wowhead, it seems the patch also introduced a bug that is teleporting enemies from other Kalimdor zones underneath one spot in particular in Stonetalon Mountains.

For normal WoW Classic players, that's not too much of an issue. But on WoW Classic's permadeath server, a group of dozens of high-level enemies hiding underground in the zone's Boulderslide Ravine area is a deathtrap. There are a handful of Horde quests that take players through the area, meaning any hardcore player on their leveling journey through the zone will likely walk right by this potentially character-ending situation. 

While players can't exactly strike the foes from underground, the mobs seem more than capable of assassinating unsuspecting players, as shown in a clip from Reddit user Party-Signature-8700 where they narrowly avoid dying to a high-level crocodile enemy from an entirely different zone, Dustwallow Marsh. In the video, another player's dead body can be seen nearby, confirming that these enemies mean business.

https://www.reddit.com/r/classicwow/comments/1v7tmk9/ermm_whats_going_on_almost_lost_my_hc_character/?utm_source=embedv2&utm_medium=post_embed&utm_content=whitespace&embed_host_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wowhead.com%2Fclassic%2Fnews%2Fbeware-of-the-underground-enemies-in-stonetalon-mountains-382280

What is causing this particular bug is unknown, but players are theorizing that since the Boulderslide Ravine area is the 0, 0, 0 coordinates for the continent, the game is for whatever reason mistakenly teleporting enemies to that specific location. This can sometimes happen to players as well, such as when disconnecting while on a flight path on another part of the continent, only to find themselves in Stonetalon Mountains at this particular location when logging back in. 

Blizzard is no doubt aware of the issue, and should your Hardcore character happen to die due to this bug, there is potentially a chance the developer could restore them back to life. It's happened before when entire raids of players have been disconnected and killed due to DDoS attacks or other server issues, so it's not out of the realm of possibility here. However, it's probably for the best to just stay clear of the Stonetalon Mountain entirely, lest an underground killer gator end your journey to level 60 prematurely.

As for what's next for WoW Classic, players are anticipating a major reveal at this year's BlizzCon. Many believe it will be the long-fabled Classic+, a new version of the old-school MMORPG that will be continually updated a la Old School Runescape. A codename, Camelot, recently appeared in a WoW Classic datamine and was also discovered to be in a once-dismissed Warcraft leak, adding more evidence that something big is coming on the WoW Classic front. Whatever it is, players will have to wait until BlizzCon's opening ceremony on September 15 to find out more.

After Shrek was added to a popular soccer game, everyone's favorite green ogre is now in Ubisoft's fighting game Brawlhalla. Shrek is popping up all over the place this year to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 2001 film that won the first-ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

The Brawlhalla x Shrek event runs through August 19 and also brings Fiona and Puss in Boots to the fighting game; Donkey is available as a companion. As you can see in the trailer below, each character has their own unique fighting style and items. Shrek can bash foes with his "Beware of Ogre" sign, while Fiona keeps it simple and wrecks people with her fists and feet.

Puss, meanwhile, uses his sword and lance to bring the pain. Donkey, for his part, reacts to events on the battlefield, and he looks like a great cheerleader.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz6C95B3w2E

In addition to the characters, the Brawlhalla x Shrek event brings new maps to the game: Shrek's Swamp and Shrek's Muddy Swamp. There are also other items people can buy with real money, including a KO effect of Mongo the giant gingerbread man and Lord Farquaad, Dragon, and Pinocchio emoji skins.

The original Shrek movie returned to theaters earlier this year to mark the franchise's 25th anniversary. The long-awaited fifth movie, Shrek 5, is set for release in Summer 2027.

The Shrek movie franchise is a juggernaut, with its four main installments collectively grossing $3 billion, and that does not even count the Puss in the Boots spin-offs. In addition to Shrek 5, DreamWorks is producing a Donkey movie for 2028, with Eddie Murphy coming back to voice Donkey once again.

Beyond the movies, there are Shrek-themed attractions at Universal Studios theme parks, including the new kids-themed resort in Texas, while many fantastic Shrek memes have helped to keep Shrek popular and relevant for the past 25 years.

Jumanji is rolling the dice for one last adventure, and ahead of its release later this year, you can check out the new trailer for the upcoming film.

Once again featuring the familiar quartet of Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillian, and Jack Black as the film series' video game avatars--who have somehow escaped into the real world and are acting like TikTok IRL NPCs--Jumanji: Open World is the final chapter in the trilogy that includes 2017's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and 2019's Jumanji: The Next Level.

https://youtu.be/zhApeaHMvfs

"Our heroes have escaped the perilous jungles of Jumanji before, but this time Jumanji breaks free of its console, unleashing its chaos into our world," the official synopsis for the movie reads.

Alongside the primary cast--who pull double-duty by switching personalities once they're back in the game--Jumanji: Open World also stars Alex Wolff, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner, Ser’Darius Blain, Rhys Darby, Nick Jonas, and Danny DeVito. The previous two films have been blockbusters, grossing a combined $1.7 billion at the global box office--and we all know how Johnson is in dire need of a hit movie following a string of high-profile flops like 2022's Black Adam and the live-action version of Moana, where he reprised his role as the egotistical demigod Maui.

Jumanji: Open World officially hits US theaters on December 25. The film was initially scheduled to arrive a little sooner, but the one-two punch of Dune: Part 3 and Avengers: Doomsday saw those plans change.

It's a good time to be a fan of movies inspired by video games, as two more will arrive before the new Jumanji does. Zach Cregger's brutally bloody reimagining of Resident Evil is out first in September, and it'll be followed by Street Fighter in October.

50 Video Game Movies In The Works: How Many Of Them Will Actually Come Out? View Images

Trading card games are bigger than ever, and anime studios have taken notice. Following the launch of the popular One Piece TCG, the next big IP stepping into the scene is Naruto, the fan-favorite series that helped popularize anime throughout the 2000s. Naruto Card Game launches in Summer 2027, and ahead of its arrival, more details on it have been revealed at Gen Con 2026.

What is Naruto Card Game? https://youtu.be/2AByN4yTij4

Described as a strategic trading card game that features characters from the three Naruto series--Naruto, Naruto: Shippuden, and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations--the game features unique mechanics and original designs. If you never read the original manga or watched the anime series, then you've missed out on one of the all-time greatest stories ever told. Naruto tells the story of its titular character, a loud and brash orphan raised in a ninja village who desires to ascend to the highest rank of those warriors, the Hokage, so that he can finally be noticed.

Born during an attack by the kaiju-sized nine-tailed fox that almost wiped out the village, the beast was sealed inside Naruto, and he subsequently spent the rest of his life being shunned by his village. Throughout the series, Naruto eventually grows as a ninja and a person, earning the respect of his village, while an overarching narrative throughout the manga and anime sees shadowy forces working behind the scenes. Throw in a few revenge plots, amazing battles that prioritize cunning over brute force, and a ninja world war, and you can see why Naruto is so beloved.. 

How to play Naruto Card Game

Naruto Card Game has each player build a deck of 51 cards, and each deck is centered around a "Leader" card. Support cards include Character, Chakra, Summon, and EX Character cards, and the overall goal is to reduce the Leader's life points to zero. Here's a quick breakdown of how each card works:

• Leader Card -- The main card that a deck is built around, as a player's cards and strategies are determined by the card color of their Leader
• Character Card -- The frontline of a deck, Character Cards execute attacks and can unleash their unique jutsus on the battlefield
• Chakra Card -- To pull off ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu attacks, you'll need to spend the Chakra resource with these cards 
• EX Character Card -- Once certain conditions have been met, these powerful characters can turn the tide of battle  
• Summon Card -- To bring those game-changing characters to the battlefield, you'll need to summon them with this special card

Naruto Card Game designs

Art is the heart and soul of any trading card game, and Naruto Card Game features a terrific selection of original illustrations from a range of artists, artwork from the anime, and even callbacks to the manga source material with illustrations by Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto. Some of the cards shown off so far include fan-favorite characters like Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Jiraiya, and Itachi Uchiha.

When does Naruto Card Game launch?

Not for a while! The official launch date for Naruto Card Game is Summer 2027. If you're interested, you can go hands-on with the card game at one of several events around the world in the months to come.

• Gen Con 2026 (United States, July 30 - August 2)
• Bandai Card Games Fest (11 Cities Worldwide, from October)
• New York Comic Con 2026 (United States, October 8 - 11)
• PAX Australia 2026 (Australia, October 9 - 11)
• Spiel Essen 2026 (Germany, October 22 - 25)
• Paris Games Week 2026 (France, October 22 - 25)
• Lucca Comics & Games 2026 (Italy, October 28 - November 1)

Meanwhile, you can also check out what lies in store for Magic: The Gathering, as 2027 is shaping up to be the biggest year yet for the popular TCG.

Zach Cregger is known for gore galore with his horror/thriller movies Weapons and Barbarian, but his new Resident Evil movie is "definitely the most violent" thing he's ever made.

He told this to Empire, saying, "You gotta go grotesque" and "all the way" in terms of violence. "So it's gnarly. It's brutal. A very bloody affair," he said.

Beyond his directorial projects, Cregger appeared in countless sketches during his comedy days with Whitest Kids 'U Know, and some of them were very violent. In "Sniper Business," Cregger's character witnesses an intern getting shot through the eye with a sniper rifle. In the "Gallon of PCP" sketch, Cregger plays a character whose girlfriend only very recently got beheaded by a drug dealer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNd1gb19A-c

Also in the interview, Cregger once again mentioned how he never sought out to make a Resident Evil movie that fleshed out more of the Resident Evil lore or explain in more detail how the T-virus works.

"This movie is about one dude's journey on foot, fighting monsters. I don't give a f**k about checking boxes," he said. "All I cared about was just telling a fun story. [One in which] we step on the gas at about eight minutes in and never take our foot off the floor."

The Resident Evil movie releases on September 18. It stars Austin Abrams as Bryan, a medical courier who is sent to a hospital in Raccoon City. According to Cregger, Abrams was very nearly killed by a 150-pound blood bag while filming a scene that made it into the final cut.

For more, check out GameSpot’s breakdown of the latest terrifying new trailer for the Resident Evil movie.

As for the Resident Evil game series, Capcom recently announced that the newest entry, Resident Evil Requiem, has now sold more than 8 million units.

One of the best--and worst--things about PC gaming is the support for mods, allowing users to customize their games to an absurd degree. Installing a mod isn't always straightforward, and the more it remixes a game, the greater the chance of that title crashing, burning, and frustrating the user on the other end. Nexus Mods, one of the largest sites in the modding community, is aiming to fix that issue with a long-term plan to make mods easier to access and use.

Following a change in leadership last year that saw Victor "Foledinho" Folmann take over, the current boss of the site has penned an open letter describing plans to change the very nature of how mods are presented, shared, and accessed on the longrunning site.

Imagine a future where replacing batarangs in Batman: Arkham Knight with cans of Dr. Pepper is easier than ever.

"For going on 25 years now, this platform has been modeling mods as files. Mods are not files. Mods are systems. With dependencies, with conflicts, with load orders, with versioning, with environments, all that complexity," Folmann wrote. "Everything that has been making you angry over the years can be attributed to one factor: the platform models your mods as files. That changes. A platform that knows modding as systems. Where the difficult parts are done for you: dependency resolution, setup validation, and change deployment, making modding more reliable and easier to maintain for everyone."

Folmann added that Nexus Mods will be aiming to make mods more accessible to users through a site that will be transformed into a platform for this kind of content, not just a storage hub for the files. Folmann is well aware of the challenges involved, and he added that he wants Nexus Mods to be "Spotify-easy" to use while also serving the community with "GitHub-powerful" toolsets. The site already offers the Vortex tools that creators say make it easier to install and maintain mods, and it's likely that Nexus Mods will expand on this software in the future.

It's worth noting that Steam offers its own modding system that runs through its PC gaming client. Users have built custom maps, overhauled video game graphics, and even added new gameplay mods, with many popular games building active communities. The overall system generally runs like a well-oiled machine with automatic updates and easy installations. Overall, PC gamers have plenty of options, and it's those wonderfully weird mods that make games like Pragmata, Crimson Desert, and Paralives stand out on that platform.

52 Best Fallout 4 Mods In 2026 View Images

After regaining its independence from Microsoft, the veteran, esteemed game developer Double Fine has enacted a sweeping round of layoffs.

Studio head Tim Schafer said the San Francisco-based studio laid off 23 people this week, which, according to reporter Jason Schreier, amounted to about 25% of the developer's total headcount.

"As a small, tightly knit team, these actions are not taken lightly," Schafer said. "Only the survival of our studio would ever make us consider such a painful move."

He added that the cuts were directly related to Double Fine regaining its independence from Microsoft. Schafer said Double Fine needed to scale down to become a "size that we can sustain."

Every affected staffer will be supported "as best we can," Schafer said. "We thank them for their hard work and commitment to the creative spirit we cherish here at Double Fine."

Founded in 2000, Double Fine was an independent studio until Microsoft bought the company in 2019. Schafer told Game Informer in 2019 that he was "very concerned" about selling to Microsoft due to a fear that the company might not be able to retain its "culture and identity" under a behemoth like Microsoft. However, Schafer said he took the deal because he was under the assumption that Double Fine would be "left alone" to "do their own thing and stay independent."

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced a drastic "reset" of the Xbox business under Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, and this included Microsoft divesting of five studios, including Double Fine. As part of the separation, Microsoft said Double Fine would retain its IP, catalog, and runway for their next games."

Double Fine released three games under Xbox, including Psychonauts 2 (2021), Keeper (2025), and Kiln (2026).

Dan Houser, the co-founder of Rockstar Games and co-creator of the GTA franchise, has commented on the ongoing discussion and debate about physical games in the wake of Sony's decision to stop supporting discs in 2028.

Speaking to IGN, Houser said, "I don't know that I care." But he said, "If people want that, I think companies should provide it."

"But I don't know that I personally care," he said.

He went on to say that one of the benefits of digital games is "the ability to update and fix problems," and this has been "really useful for the quality of games."

A scene from GTA 6.

Houser left Rockstar in 2020. His brother, Sam Houser, remains at Rockstar ahead of GTA 6's release in November. Dan Houser now works at Absurd Ventures with another former Rockstar veteran, Lazlow Jones.

Jones said in the IGN interview that he understands how good it can feel to pop a disc into a console, but he also appreciates being able to, for example, download a game at the airport and then play it on a flight. Dan Houser, meanwhile, added, "I love physical media."

Absurd Ventures is working on multiple open-world, action-adventure video game projects. One takes place in the sci-fi world of the company's A Better Paradise comic series, and the other takes place inside the studio's comedy satire world, Absurdaverse.

Sony is no longer going to support physical game discs on PlayStation starting in January 2028. The company said it's doing this due to "shifting trends in consumer preference." Experts believe the real reason is that Sony can make more money and have more control with an all-digital future.

The biggest game of 2026, GTA 6, will be a digital-exclusive. Rockstar will sell a boxed copy of GTA 6 at retail, but people are only getting a code in the box.

According to a reputable insider, new information about Rockstar's GTA 6 could arrive very soon. NateTheHate, who has accurately reported unannounced details about upcoming games before, recently said he expects to see "a fair bit" of GTA 6 in August.

He went on to push back against the narrative that just because Rockstar has not marketed GTA 6 much so far, with just a few months to go before launch, that there is some cause for concern.

"They have a marketing plan & they are sticking to that plan. No reason for concern," he said, adding that the game is not delayed and will launch on time on November 19.

GTA 6 could get new info soon.

Some kind of new reveal for GTA 6 in August makes sense. After all, that's when Rockstar's parent company, Take-Two, will release its next earnings report. The report is set to be released on August 7, and, in a break from tradition, it'll be released on a Friday and before the market opens that day, not after.

It's also due time for GTA 6's marketing campaign to begin, considering Take-Two previously said marketing would kick off in summer.

GTA 6 preorders opened on June 25. The game costs $80 for the standard edition and $100 for a premium version that includes a bunch of extras.

While it's been more than a year since the game's last trailer, Rockstar has released plenty of new screenshots in the time since.

GTA 6 is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Rockstar is reportedly testing the game for Switch 2.

The new Spider-Man movie sees its star, Tom Holland, once again do whatever a spider can, which apparently includes using finishing moves from the recent Spider-Man games. In a new interview, Holland and film director Destin Daniel Cretton spoke about how the Spider-Man games from Insomniac influenced the film, specifically with how Spidey lands a knockout blow on his enemies.

"A lot of the action," from the games inspired Holland, as he explained to IGN during the premiere event for Brand New Day. "A lot of the finishing moves. I was actually playing the game last night. For me, a lot of those finishing moves, a lot of our stuff was influenced by that stuff."

Cretton added that Holland's love of the games was shared by many of the stunt performers in the film, who brought screenshots of Spidey's finishers to the writer's room as they wanted to pull off those moves in real life.

"A lot of the action designers and stunt people we had were huge gamers," Cretton said. "They were able to experience things in those games that made them excited, and they would just screengrab the moves they really liked and bring them into the writers' room and show it to me. And then we'd be like, 'Yeah, that's sick. Let's try to figure out how to do that for real.'"

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/htx531h5YTY

In the games, Spidey can dispose of enemies instantly once he has banked enough energy to pull off a finisher, using his webs and powers to squash cannon fodder foes instantly. The launch of Spider-Man: Brand New Day is also being celebrated in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, as alongside a PSSR update for PS5 Pro owners, the new "Fresh Start" costume from the movie has also been added to the spider-wardrobe.

Officially opening on July 31, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is expected to be the type of blockbuster that has become exceedingly rare in the post-COVID era of moviegoing. Some analysts are predicting that the movie could make as much as $190 million at the North American box office, and globally, it could rake in up to $465 million in its opening weekend.

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Xbox has announced that it has expanded its partnership with Ubisoft, and if you own certain games from the publisher on console, you'll now have free PC versions of them to play. Available right now, 13 games in total will be available for free through the Ubisoft Connect app on PC after you link your Xbox account:

• Assassin's Creed Mirage
• Assassin's Creed Valhalla
• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
• Far Cry 6
• Immortals Fenyx Rising
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
• Riders Republic
• Skull and Bones
• The Crew 2
• The Crew Motorfest
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
• Watch Dogs Legion

That's a solid selection covering Ubisoft's main franchises like Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six, while the addition of Immortals: Fenyx Rising--a perfect game to play if you just watched The Odyssey--Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. If you haven't played any of the games listed above, you can still purchase them on Xbox, link your profile to your Ubisoft Connect account, and get a PC copy on the house.

The other big benefit players can look forward to is the premium editions of Ubisoft games through the Xbox PC app. Recent releases like Assassin's Creed Shadows and Star Wars Outlaws are included alongside other entries from the Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, The Crew, and Watch Dogs franchises. Xbox appears to be making some big moves lately in the PC gaming space--fitting, considering the rumors that Microsoft's next-gen console Project Helix will be more PC-like in its design--and that a discs-to-digital program is also in development for Xbox users to help them transition toward an all-digital ecosystem.

Last week also saw the announcement that a curated number of original Xbox console games will be coming to PC, with more titles joining the first wave of old-school classics in the future. Each of the games--Blinx: The Time Sweeper, Fuzion Frenzy, Conker: Live and Reloaded, and Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge--also come with several enhancements, like improved resolution, customizable graphics, and various support settings, and Xbox says that the backwards-compatibility initiative on PC is just getting started.

Silent Hill: Townfall makes some big changes from the usual Silent Hill experience that fans have come to expect, not only with its Scottish setting, but also with its first-person perspective. While this gameplay style is unusual for Silent Hill (we still remember you, PT), it turns out there was really no debate about whether it was right for Townfall.

Speaking at a media roundtable event that GameSpot attended, director Jon McKellan said that from the very start, Silent Hill: Townfall was planned as a first-person game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm1Z1IFTtX4

"It was first-person from day one for us," McKellan said. "Our previous games were first-person, [and] the stuff I'd worked on before that was first-person, so it's something we felt we understood and knew pretty well."

Yet developer Screen Burn's familiarity with first-person games wasn't the only factor that contributed to this decision. McKellan went on to explain that one of the game's central mechanics, Simon's handheld CRTV, also necessitated this perspective.

As with previous Silent Hill titles' radios, Townfall's CRTV serves as a means for solving puzzles and finding threats in survival-horror game. However, the tool's visual nature meant utilizing the device outside of a first-person perspective felt "out of place."

"You know, there is no way to hold that in front of the player in third-person without having to render it onto a UI, and that starts to feel like a mini-map, you know--something that feels really out of place for Silent Hill," McKellan added. "So for us, the combination of those features was like, 'This feels like the right way to go.'"

Prior to its work on Silent Hill: Townfall, Screen Burn developed the games Stories Untold and Observation. McKellan was also an artist on Alien: Isolation, which certainly made the most of its first-person perspective.

Silent Hill: Townfall releases for PS5 and PC on September 24.

Glasgow-based developer Screen Burn has been around for over a decade, and Silent Hill: Townfall is the studio's highest-profile game to date. The studio has produced a few cult-classics over the years like Stories Untold and Observation, but with its Silent Hill spin-off, the team has described being handed the keys to Konami's premier survival-horror franchise as a "confidence builder."

Silent Hill Townfall was announced during Konami's dedicated 2022 livestream for the series, which also saw the announcement of the games Silent Hill f and Bloober Team's Silent Hill 2 remake. According to Silent Hill Townfall game director Jon McKellan, Screen Burn was largely given free rein over the project, with oversight on it being focused on making certain that the game complemented its spooky brethren.

https://youtu.be/OLV6S7j8vZk

"We had our head down for the majority of this. Like, I think even from the first teaser in 2022 when all the games were kind of announced at the same time, you know, working with these guys, it's always been easy. It's always been kind of letting us cook, so to speak, like just we had talked through story, we talked through the vibes and the goals of the game that we had, and these guys were obviously making sure that nothing overlapped too much or that things would kind of like complement each other in a way."

"We weren't kind of like connected to Silent Hill 2, to Silent Hill F--like we weren't getting involved in that or really aware of what was happening. We were just kind of like making sure that we were focused on our game and that we trusted these guys to raise anything if it was a concern, should the games not complement each other in some way or overlap too much. Overall, it felt like it gave us the creative freedom to do what we do, and knowing there's a little bit of oversight there to make sure we don't like accidentally make the same story as another one, given that we're all drawing from the same pool of reference."

The release of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill F has also been a "net positive" for Screen Burn, and while the studio knows that it's being expected to live up to the high standard set by those games, the warm reception to those titles has left the developer feeling confident.

"I think just as Silent Hill 2 was coming out, like seeing what they'd done and being like--as a fan of the original--being blown away by what they did with the remake," McKellan said. "And then with Silent Hill F, the left turn that took is just great to see. It gave us confidence as well, seeing those games do really well, [it] gave us confidence that people were accepting of the new Silent Hill and that the fans were here for it. So, it's always been like a confidence builder for us. Now the spotlight's on us, so now we're terrified! But yeah, it's been overall a net positive, like we've enjoyed being part of the franchise, obviously, and happy to be the next installment."

Unlike the previous games, Silent Hill Townfall is a first-person survival-horror. It does share one idea with Silent Hill f, moving the series out of the US and taking it to the fictional Scottish town of St. Amelia. For more on the game, you can read up on why Konami has published so many Silent Hill games lately, Screen Burn's ambition to make people talk about Townfall for the next 20 years, and the decision to make it a first-person experience.

One way to gauge the success of a game is by looking at how much talk it generates after launch, and in the case of Silent Hill Townfall, game director Jon McKellan has an ambitious goal for the Scottish psychological-horror. According to McKellan, the team at Screen Burn is looking to give players just the right amount of story. By maintaining an air of mystery and ambiguity, it will create a launchpad for people to discuss the themes and plot beats of Silent Hill Townfall for years to come.

"It's a hard--definitely a hard balance--and you won't know until you've released, you know? It's like, we can never unsee what we've seen and unknow what we know, so we think we've struck a balance of never being too explicit, never giving people the true canonical answer, like there's still enough ambiguity there to make people want to dig in," McKellan said to GameSpot.

"Silent Hill 2 is a game that people are still theorizing about 20 years later. We want to be in that camp. And if we do that, if we're too explicit, we'll miss that, and if we don't do enough, no one will care. So, it's a hard line to walk, but, yeah, we just do the best we can to try and thread that needle."

https://youtu.be/OLV6S7j8vZk

So what makes Silent Hill 2 the subject of dissection, so many years after it was first released? It's been the subject of many essays over the years, with people unraveling its approach to psychological horror and how it uses the titular town of Silent Hill as a manifestation of the human psyche. Protagonist James Sunderland regularly encounters creatures that represent his guilt and grief; the iconic Pyramid Head represents Sunderland's subconscious desire to be punished, and the entire experience is a surreal trip that would make Twin Peaks creator David Lynch proud.

The game was also a massive departure from other horror games of the time, delivering a deep and experimental approach to the genre. We'll have to wait until September 24 to see how successful this approach was, but for now, it's looking like it could be proof of a renaissance moment for the franchise. For more details on the game, you can check out why it's in first-person and just why Konami is pumping out so many new Silent Hill games lately.

Over the past few years, we've seen a major revival of the Silent Hill franchise, with 2024's Silent Hill 2 remake offering a spectacular reimagining of one of the series' most beloved entries while titles like Silent Hill f and Townfall propel the series forward and seek to redefine what a Silent Hill game can be. Turns out, having so many Silent Hill projects developed at the same time was a deliberate strategy set by Konami, and a way to prove to fans that it's serious about the franchise's future.

Speaking to GameSpot at a media roundtable event, Konami producer Motoi Okamoto made it clear that the company views Silent Hill as a major part of its business.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py3_sAx3l_o

"The main reason why we decided to have multiple titles in the works--like three games in the works at the same time--was because we wanted to convey to the players that Konami is serious about coming back into the gaming landscape," Okamoto said via a translator. "A part of the strategy behind that was to work on multiple games at once so that we can have an annual release of a new Silent Hill game ever year. That way, players will know that it's not a facade. We're serious about coming back into the gaming space and providing players with new games."

The Silent Hill franchise had certainly been on ice for a long time prior to this recent initiative. PT was planned as a teaser for the unreleased Silent Hills game, and following its cancellation, it was nearly a decade before any new Silent Hill games were released. Perhaps Konami is truly making up for lost time, but if its upcoming games are as good as the Silent Hill 2 remake and Silent Hill f, fans have little reason to complain.

Those itching to take Crazy Taxi: World Tour for a test drive can now sign up for their chance, as developer Sega has announced a multiplayer closed network test.

Crazy Taxi: World Tour's closed network test will run September 11-13 in the US. Those interested will need to sign up on the game's website by August 31. The test will be available on all of Crazy Taxi: World Tour's announced platforms (Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5), though Sega states on its website that certain platforms "may have limited participant capacity."

The announcement of the network test comes alongside a new trailer highlighting the game's West Coast, a location that will look familiar to fans of Sega's manic driving franchise but will be just one of its playable locations. It is called "World Tour" after all, though Sega has not yet announced additional locales as of yet. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XordDIexPAQ

Crazy Taxi: World Tour was announced as part of the Xbox Games Showcase in June, with its debut trailer featuring a classic song from the original Crazy Taxi that is most often associated with the series, The Offspring's 'All I Want.'

However, Sega quickly found itself in hot water after it was revealed by the game's Steam page that Crazy Taxi: World Tour was made in part with generative AI. A blurb on the Steam page states "We use generative AI as a support tool for developers, aiming to provide better content to our users and enable developers to focus on creative tasks."

In a statement to Game Informer, Sega said it used gen AI to develop background assets. Franchise creator Kenji Kanno later defended the studio's use of AI in an interview, stating that the team used gen AI to generate ideas and as a reference, but that actual in-game assets were being created by humans. 

World Tour will be the first mainline entry in the Crazy Taxi franchise since 2002's Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller, and is slated to release in 2027. 

Grand Theft Auto Online players in Australia are no longer able to gamble in the game's Diamond Casino, after Rockstar Games appears to have blocked access in the wake of the Australian government's crackdown on online gambling.

Australian players began to report the change on Reddit (via Vice), as they were no longer able to participate in the various casino games like three card poker, blackjack, roulette, and slots, that were added to GTA Online way back in 2019 as part of the Diamond Casino heist update. This is despite the casino games using fake in-game casino chips and not real money. 

While players can technically buy the casino chips with real money via microtransactions, there is no way to convert said chips into real-world cash. Players can't even spin the Lucky Wheel, a feature that doesn't use chips and simply gives players free rewards like cars, clothes, and other items.

A prominent GTA-focused leaker, Tex2, later confirmed the change, revealing the game's code had been updated to restrict gambling in the country. 

https://twitter.com/TexFunz2/status/2082051715680149509?s=20

Australia is far from the first country to see these kinds of restrictions implemented. When the Diamond Casino was added in 2019, there was already a long list of countries where its gambling features were restricted, including Argentina, Poland, Greece, Israel, and more. The frustration here is that Australian players have now suddenly lost access to a feature they've enjoyed for over six years.

"Well my fellow Australians it's with a heavy heart we bid farewell to the fun times gambling at the casino as our government has banned the option earlier today," Reddit user Agitated_Boot7803 lamented on Reddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/gtaonline/comments/1v8inzl/gambling_in_the_diamond_casino_is_over/

Another user on the unofficial fansite GTA Forums called the ban "idiotic" and pointed out the hypocrisy of the Australian government still allowing games with loot boxes and pay-to-win systems while simultaneously banning fake-money gambling.

"Can't spin a wheel in a video game but gambling ads are fine," GTA Forums user Gauntlet Hellfire said.

It's a change that also doesn't bode well for any in-game gambling as part of GTA 6. Should GTA 6's inevitable online multiplayer mode include a casino, it's likely the games contained within will be banned in Australia and many other countries as well.

Remasters are good business for video game companies, but don't expect to see BioWare's Dragon Age games getting the same treatment in the future--or possibly, ever. That's according to Dragon Age series producer Mark Darrah, who says that the original trilogy of games likely won't be remastered due to BioWare losing too much institutional knowledge.

Speaking to FRVR, Darrah--who was the executive producer on the Dragon Age series--was asked about the possibility of the classic Dragon Age games being remastered, similarly to 2021's Mass Effect: Legendary Edition remaster. The former BioWare employee said that there were plans in place to create a "Champion Edition" remaster that would have included Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, and Dragon Age: Inquisition.

The first two Dragon Age games ran on enhanced versions of the Aurora engine called Eclipse and Lycium, while the third used DICE's Frostbite engine. Remastering the games would thus require specialist knowledge--knowledge that BioWare no longer has. In comparison, remastering Mass Effect was an easier prospect due to all three games being developed on the Unreal 3 Engine.

https://youtu.be/Z-j1zzzKWpo

"There is basically no one at BioWare anymore that understands the Aurora Engine," Darrah explained. "So unlike Mass Effect--which is Unreal--there are basically no companies that could help you."

That doesn't mean that a Dragon Age trilogy remaster is impossible to make, but Darrah doesn't think that EA in its current state will want to form a "brand-new team" to tackle a project like this. Which would be a pity, as Darrah believes that it could be a commercial success thanks to the impact that Baldur's Gate 3 has had on the fantasy genre.

Earlier this month, former Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider also spoke about the franchise and how he believes that it's likely dead, following the poor commercial performance of Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

The game failed to meet EA's expectations, and in the aftermath, mass layoffs at BioWare saw only a "core" team left behind to focus on the next Mass Effect game. EA is also preparing to become a private company, as a $55 billion leveraged buyout funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and several other investors is also in the works. If successful, the deal could see EA burdened with $20 billion in debt, and analysts believe that could lead to EA selling off studios like BioWare.