World of Warcraft's first update of 2024 is just around the corner, and although it's technically labeled as a "minor" patch, it will add some game-changing new features to Blizzard's MMORPG.

Blizzard has announced WoW's next update, Seeds of Renewal, will arrive on January 16. Update 10.2.5 will bring Dragonflight's excellent dragonriding flight system to all of Azeroth, something players have requested ever since they first got their hands on the new type of in-game flight during Dragonflight's Alpha test. It will also allow players to run normal difficulty dungeons with NPC followers, letting newer players, or players new to particular classes or roles like healing or tanking, a way to brush up on their skills before jumping into groups with real players.

Both follower dungeons and the ability to dragonride everywhere are two major features that in years past would likely have come as part of a major content patch or a whole new expansion, not a minor .5 update. Yet those two features, as big as they are, aren't even everything coming in Seeds of Renewal. New story quests that will see the Worgen reclaim the fallen kingdom of Gilneas are also coming as part of the update, as well as new character customization options for Trolls, Draenei, and Warlock demons. It will additionally see the return of one of Dragonflight's new events, the Azerothian Archives.

Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Sharmeed Obaid-Chinoy is directing an upcoming Star Wars movie that brings back Daisy Ridley in the role of Rey. Obaid-Chinoy will become the first woman to direct a Star Wars film, dating back to the franchise's origins in the 1970s. Speaking about this, Obaid-Chinoy told CNN that she is "very thrilled" to make the movie and create something that is "very special."

"We're in 2024 now, and I think it's about time we had a woman come forward to shape the story in a galaxy far, far away," she said.

Obaid-Chinoy won Best Documentary, Short Subjects Academy Awards for Saving Face (2012) and A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness (2015).

Building up a romantic relationship with a companion of choice in Baldur's Gate 3 will earn players an intimate scene with the chosen party member. If you're on Xbox, however, be warned: Recording the scene could get you banned from Xbox Live, as one member of the game's Reddit community has reported.

Reddit user u/Daddy_Magic shared his plight on the BG3 forum, as they said they recorded three separate videos of a particular tryst in the player character's camp. As is routine, the videos were uploaded to the Xbox servers after capture for sharing purposes, but when the uploads were completed, each video was reportedly marked as an infraction..

An accompanying image on the Reddit post shows each of the active suspensions earned by the three separate incidents. The first video earned a four-day suspension, with the second adding 22 days and the third adding 366 days.

As someone who has been playing games for as long as my pudgy little toddler hands could hold a Super Nintendo controller, it's been interesting for me to see how my taste in games has changed over the years. What started out as an intense love for mascot platformers eventually turned into a deep appreciation for simulation games. Over time, this passion turned to RPGs, and then action-adventure games, often with RPG elements and condensed, purposeful worlds. Yet despite all their differences, there's a thread through them all that this year's new releases made me aware of--and I'm now compelled to tug at it.

Recently, GameSpot named Baldur's Gate 3 its game of the year--a choice I heavily advocated for. During our deliberations, I told my colleagues, "I don't think it's the most cinematic game this year, or the most 'artistic,' but I do think it is the best game." My second favorite game of 2023 was The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which, once again, I can admit wasn't as artistic as something like Alan Wake 2, and lacked the polish and sheer spectacle of Final Fantasy XVI, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, or Star Wars Jedi: Survivor--though I will argue that descending into the depths was one of the coolest gaming moments of the past year. So, I then began to wonder, "What in my eyes made for a great game?" And while novel concepts, strong mechanics, fascinating characters, and interesting art are all up there, what it really came down to--and what I think some of 2023's top tiles did best--is give me a choice.

I've always loved decision-based games, whether the decision I'm making is my party composition, to build a rollercoaster that will send my park-goers to their doom, or to romance Thane yet again in Mass Effect 2. Fortunately for me, many games allow players a sense of choice and freedom, and more of these games are being made each and every day. But in a year of mind-blowing games, Baldur's Gate 3 and Tears of the Kingdom won my heart because of how they elevated what "freedom" in a game entails.

Star Wars Outlaws, the new Star Wars action game from the team at Ubisoft that made The Division, now has a narrower release window. A blog post from Disney outlining the company's plans for 2024 includes mention of Outlaws and specifically a release date being "late this year." [Note: the blog post has since been amended to remove mention of the specific release window for Outlaws. The blog post now only states that Outlaws is "set to release in 2024"]

Previously, Outlaws was only confirmed for release sometime in 2024.

Outlaws is an open-world Star Wars game where players take on the role of Kay Vess, a scoundrel trying to start a new life. The game is set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi--when the civil war between the Empire and the Rebellion is at its height, providing an opportunity for crime and outlaws to thrive. The game will also feature a brand-new moon that was built from the ground up called Toshara--which was featured in the debut gameplay trailer--with "the scoundrel fantasy at its beating heart."

Director Zack Snyder has said it would be fun to see a James Bond movie tell a story about a young Bond that digs into the super-spy's past and upbringing. Snyder told The Atlantic that he believes audiences would show up to learn about Bond's early days and the trauma that made him who he is.

"It'd be cool to see, like, 20-year-old James Bond," Snyder said (via Variety). "The humble roots that he comes from. Whatever trauma of youth that makes you be able to be James Bond. There has to be something there."

The 2012 James Bond movie Skyfall saw Bond return to his childhood home, but there hasn't been a proper prequel that shows Bond's upbringing. In 2022, actor Tom Holland said he pitched a James Bond origin story as a new film but he admitted his idea "didn't really make sense." Holland's idea apparently made it all the way to the producers of the Bond movie series, but the actor said, "I don't think the Bond estate were particularly interested."

Paul Giamatti has almost 120 film and television credits to his name and is looking to grab his second Oscar nomination this year for The Holdovers. He is also the most recent actor talking to GQ about breaking down his most iconic roles and characters. Giamatti spoke at length with behind-the-scenes stories--he broke his hand in John Adams, and didn't realize Kenny Rushton was a real person--but also a role he's yet to play that he's desperate to.

When asked about his wanting to play a Bond villain, Giamatti describes the type of archetype he'd love to be in the James Bond world.

"I'd want an accent of some kind. I'd definitely want an accent. It'd be nice to have an animal with me of some kind," Giamatti responded. "Not necessarily a cat, but something. Any animal, maybe. Not a parrot or something. Something real. I don't know. An accent, though, of some kind I'd have to have. A guy who's all in fur coats and stuff like that? Be great."

The start of 2024 will see a few huge departures for Xbox Game Pass. Grand Theft Auto V, Persona 3 Portable, and Persona 4 Golden will reportedly leave the subscription service on January 15, per X user Idle Sloth.

GameSpot can confirm from the Xbox Game Pass app that all three games are listed under the Leaving Soon section, though no specific date is mentioned. The other titles joining them on console and PC are Garden Story and MotoGP 22.

GTA V was a surprise addition to Xbox Game Pass in July 2023, so that means the Rockstar title will have been available for roughly six months. Previously, GTA 5 left Xbox Game Pass in July 2021 after only three months on the subscription service.

At 12:01 AM Monday, the earliest version of Mickey Mouse went into the public domain. It took little time for projects featuring Mickey and his gloveless hands to be made into anything. From erotic prints to logos on shirts for labor rights. There were also more elaborate projects like "edgy" video games and even two slasher films: Mickey's Mouse Trap, and another untitled movie where a deranged mouse goes after ferry guests.

In Mickey's Mouse Trap, young Alex is stuck at work on her birthday at an arcade. When her friends decide to surprise her, a masked killer dressed as Mickey Mouse appears and hunts them down for sport. The film was shot, edited, and directed by Jamie Bailey and written by Simon Phillips. Check out the trailer below.

You might be wondering what they can and can't show concerning the world's most beloved mouse. It's pretty simple: It has to be proto-version of Mickey from the Steamboat Willie animated shorts. The most important thing is to make sure that people know that Disney has no endorsement of anything like this.

Craig Robinson, who played Darryl on The Office and appeared in more than 100 episodes, has commented on the possibility of a remake and if he'd be interested in appearing in it. Speaking to AV Club, Robinson said if there is a new show in the works, he hasn't heard about it.

"I only hear that when I do interviews [laughs]. 'I heard that there was something going on...' It hasn't been mentioned to me. If it does [happen], I would love to reprise Darryl at some point," he said. "But right now, I don't know. Nor do I think so."

Darryl is a fan favorite character on The Office who sees his career shift from the warehouse, to the office, and eventually to the Philadelphia-based sports marketing company Athlead (later Athleap). Darryl's story ended on a high note, as he became an executive at Athleap, got back together with Justine, and moved to Austin, Texas.

Shigeru Miyamoto--the creator of Mario, Donkey Kong, and other characters and games over his 40-plus years at Nintendo--is 71 years old and has no plans to retire. Speaking to The Guardian, Miyamoto said he is thinking about a succession plan, but he plans to work for some time more.

"More so than retiring, I'm thinking about the day I fall over," he said with a smile. "In this day and age you have to think about things in a five-year timespan, so I do think about who I can pass things on to, in case something does happen."

Miyamoto went on to comment on his legacy, saying he is thankful there is "so much energy" around the things he has created. "They've been cultivated by others, other people have been raising them, helping them grow, so in that sense I don't feel too much ownership over them any more," Miyamoto said.

Square Enix said that it plans to be aggressive in applying AI to both its game development and publishing pipelines.

In Square Enix's "A New Year's Letter from the President," Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu said, "I believe that generative AI has the potential not only to reshape what we create, but also to fundamentally change the processes by which we create, including programming."

"In the short term, our goal will be to enhance our development productivity and achieve greater sophistication in our marketing efforts," he continued. "In the longer term, we hope to leverage those technologies to create new forms of content for consumers, as we believe that technological innovation represents business opportunities."

Actor Adam Driver played Kylo Ren in the new Star Wars trilogy, but don't expect him to return to the sci-fi series anytime soon. He said on the SmartLess podcast recently that he's aware that Lucasfilm is producing more Star Wars content, "but not with me."

Driver went on to say, "I'm not doing any more." Asked if he was finished with Star Wars because of Kylo Ren's death in The Rise of Skywalker, Driver confirmed that is indeed the case (via ScreenRant).

Before this, Driver discussed how Kylo Ren's arc in the new Star Wars trilogy was not originally set to unfold the way it did. In the finished movie, Kylo Ren refined himself as Ben Solo. But the original plan was for Ben to lose himself as the sith lord more and more throughout the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

CD Projekt Red has confirmed that it has no interest in being bought out or part of a larger corporation, and wants to maintain its independence.

In an interview with Parkiet, CD Projekt Red CEO Adam Kicinski said, "We are not interested in being incorporated into some larger entity. We have worked all our lives to reach our current position. We believe that in a few years we will be even bigger and even stronger."

Kicinski also confirmed that CD Projekt Red don't have any acquisitions itself planned at the moment, and isn't interested in mergers where the only goal is to consolidate financial results as he doesn't see the value in that. This has been CD Projekt's Red stance for several years so Kicinski's continued insistence about independence aren't surprising.

The earliest version of Mickey Mouse is now in public domain as of January 1, 2024, and as many guessed, a game developer has announced its own twist on the character in a spooky setting.

Nightmare Forge Games has announced Infestation 88, an episodic 1-4 player co-op survival horror game set in 1988. You play as an exterminator called upon to rid dwellings of "twisted versions of classic characters and urban legends." And yes, Mickey Mouse is one of those characters. The game is set to release later this year on Steam as an Early Access title.

The version of Mickey Mouse that went into public domain today, January 1, is the character's earliest appearance, dating back to 1928's Steamboat Willie. Newer versions of the character remain under Disney's control. Legal experts expect Disney to remain highly protective of its brand and Mickey Mouse specifically, so it'll be interesting to see what happens in the days, weeks, and months ahead as inevitably more and more Mickey-related projects come to light due to the public domain status of Steamboat Willie.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is fairly formulaic as far as sequels go. The reunion of Insomniac Games' take on Peter Parker and Miles Morales builds upon past foundations, adding just enough to reach new if unsurprising heights. It's in the efforts to stay close to its predecessors, however, that a key differentiator sets in. With the focus on bringing back lesser-known characters while fleshing out self-contained depictions of the friendly neighborhood spiders, the story sidelines Marvel Cinematic Universe expectations in structure and spirit, creating a stronger narrative as a result.

Editor's note: Marvel's Spider-Man 2 spoilers to follow

Avengers: Endgame was released a year after Marvel's Spider-Man, with Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales following a year later. Ever since, the MCU has attempted to rekindle the spotlight, to varying results. It's safe to say the film conglomerate doesn't draw the eyes it once did. But its influential tidal wave, for better or worse, still ripples over Marvel-related media, including the video game space.

World of Warcraft will be 20 years old in 2024. After two decades, one might think that players of Blizzard's MMORPG have seen it all. But 2023 proved that Blizzard still has plenty of ideas about the game's future, and if the last year is any indication, that future certainly looks bright.

The latest expansion for the modern version of WoW, Dragonflight, launched at the tail-end of 2022 to positive reviews, alongside an ambitious content release roadmap for 2023. The expansion itself proved to be a well-crafted, return-to-basics affair that the game sorely needed after 2020's widely disliked Shadowlands expansion. All that goodwill, however, could have easily been squandered if Blizzard failed to deliver on its promises to deliver more content on a more frequent basis in the year ahead.

Considering how the release schedules for expansions like Warlords of Draenor and Shadowlands went, when six or more months could go by without any substantial additions to a game users pay $15 a month for the privilege to play, I think it's safe to say many players were skeptical Blizzard could deliver on its promises. Two major content updates alongside four minor ones over the course of 2023 sounded ambitious, to say the least.

Following the lukewarm reception to its latest horror game Ghostwire: Tokyo, few might have expected the next game from the Shinji Mikami led-Tango Gameworks to be a brightly colored, rhythm-based character-action game. Hi-Fi Rush saw a surprise release early in 2023, arguably kicking off the stellar year of unexpected brilliance with its tightly designed combat, incredibly likable cast of rebels, and standout boss fights. Each one of Hi-Fi Rush's numerous boss fights is memorable for one reason or another (the scale and complexity of the final fight against Kale is as awe-inspiring as the first fast-paced duel with antagonist-turned-ally Korsica), but none come close to comparing with what might be the most adrenaline-fuelled three-phase fight of the year: Roquefort.

Like much of Hi-Fi Rush, Roquefort isn't memorable because of his outright challenge. The character-action presented in Tango Gameworks' latest pairs rhythm-based sensibilities with the flow of traditional character-action, equipped with an engaging scoring system that judges your aptitude at balancing both. Smart touches around each stage consistently remind you of the beat you need to keep when inputting presses for combos, while enemy attacks (mostly) adhere to the same beat, only breaking out in half-steps when trying to trip you up. Roquefort is the culmination of everything you've learnt about this blend of genres to that point, acting as the penultimate boss that is meant to gatekeep your progress from the game's eventual most-challenging foe, both figuratively and literally.

A mysterious fog-covered town, a tropical paradise covering up something deadline in the great below, and vast ocean canyons that sailors rarely make it out from. Every section of Dredge's sizable archipelago is full of secrets that could easily sink your fishing ship as soon as you slow down to investigate.

Except your ship never stays at the bottom of the salt for long. As soon as you die in Black Salt Games' Dredge--a Lovecraftian horror adventure about a fisherman finding work in a mysterious archipelago--you find yourself right back in the nightmare once again. There is no escape, which works wonderfully as both a story and lore mechanic.

Dredge isn't a horror game about survival or bloodthirsty creatures who are hunting you. It's about a world that's already miles deep and full of questions that will never have answers. Spending hours running and getting killed by sinister sealife isn't nearly as compelling as simply spending more time near though. The questions slowly pile up, and it's satisfying to just try and answer them.

Remnant 2 has a fair few bosses. There's a corrupted alien wolf that's got altogether too many eyes and really wants you to kill off a magical deer. There's also what I can only describe as a night terror turned into ethereal flesh, which crawls out of walls trying to kill you while opening a portal from its chest to spit spiders at you. There's even a giant alien baby thing that blurs the lines between realities and tries to kill you using a mixture of black holes and laser beams to protect its home from careening into an event horizon.

Note: Spoilers for Remnant 2 ahead.