HBO's The Last of Us returns on April 13 for its second season. Season 1 aired more than two years ago, so if you're looking for a refresher, HBO has now released a nice recap video.

The Season 1 recap video runs through all the major events in about five minutes, so it's not an exhaustive or comprehensive look back, but it has all the main bits you need to know and remember. Obviously, the video is full of spoilers--check it out below.

Season 2 debuts Sunday, April 13 on HBO and Max. There are seven episodes in all, compared to nine for Season 1. In other news, The Last of Us Season 1's limited-edition Steelbook version launched this week with a nice discount.

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Spring is finally here (in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway), and with it, there's also a new 2025 edition of Fanatical's Build Your Own Spring Bundle. Like the previous versions of this sales event, you'll be able to choose from a curated list of PC indie games to add to your Steam library. As with Fanatical's other build-your-own bundle deals, the Spring bundle offers a scaling pricing model where the more you spend, the more you save per game. The deal starts at $1 for just one key, but if you add five or more games, you'll pay $0.60 per key, and at 10 or more games, it's just $0.50 per key. If you grab the full 18-game bundle you'll only pay $9.

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There are 18 games on offer, covering a wide range of genres like puzzles, fighting, adventure games, and RPGs--and since they don't have demanding hardware requirements, most of these games work on Steam Deck as well. One notable pick is Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, the Super Smash Bros.-like platform fighting game that pits a roster of Nickelodeon characters like SpongeBob Squarepants, Danny Phantom, Powdered Toast Man from Ren and Stimpy, and more against each other. For those of you who would rather settle disputes on the track, there's also Nickleloden Kart Racers, a racing game heavily inspired by Nintendo's Mario Kart series.

Fans of action-adventure games can grab the 2D-sidescrolling Metroidvania Alwa's Awakening and its sequel, Alwa's Legacy. In fact, there are quite a few sidescollers on offer from a range of styles, including the roguelike hack-and-slash Blade Assault, precision platformer We Are Eva, open-world bullet-hell shooter Rocketron, and more. If you're looking for 3D games, there's the brawler Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues, Galdiator RPG Ludus, and gritty survival horror The Beast Inside. That's just a portion of the games available in the Build Your Own Spring 2025 Bundle--check the full lineup listed below, or at Fanatical.

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The launch of Split Fiction couldn't have gone any better for Hazelight Studios and EA. In just two weeks, Split Fiction has become EA's No. 2 all-time game on Steam. Now, a Split Fiction movie is reportedly in development, and the project is expected to attract a bidding war from Hollywood Studios.

According to Variety, Hazelight is reuniting with Story Kitchen, the media company that helped sell the movie rights for the studio's previous game, It Takes Two, which landed at Amazon MGM Studios. The report indicates that Hazelight and Story Kitchen are already assembling cast members, writers, and a director for the pitch before Split Fiction goes out to potential buyers.

The game follows two young women, Zoe and Mio, who are strangers to each other before they find themselves trapped together in mishmash of the sci-fi and fantasy stories they've written. In order to escape from the virtual world and return to reality, the two women have to figure out how to work together and use their skills to survive the experience.

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Hold your breath, plug your nose, and dive into a new horror game revealed during the Future Game Show, as the first-person horror-adventure Dark Mass is coming to PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5.

Similar to 2021's French horror film The Deep House, Dark Mass is set almost entirely underwater. Players take on the role of Alice, a deep-sea explorer who comes upon the wreckage of an ancient ship while diving with her brother Reed. Creepily, it's not so much the ship but an entire manor lost to history and buried beneath the wreck that becomes the centerpiece of the scary story.

The game will use underwater physics to affect player movement and worsen an already unfortunate situation for the siblings. Gameplay consists of puzzles to solve and choices to make, all while an entity is pursuing you beneath the waves.

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Remedy is a studio known for disappearing into its work for several years, then emerging with an inventive, often mind-bending, single-player game such as Max Payne, Alan Wake, or Control. But the studio has grown a lot lately, becoming a team juggling several projects simultaneously. Alongside the upcoming Max Payne remakes and Control 2, Remedy is also trying something very different from its past games. FBC Firebreak is a three-player co-op PvE first-person shooter set in The Oldest House, the setting for Control. I recently got to see a hands-off preview of the game, which strives to combine the team's signature strangeness with the pick-up-and-play appeal of a modern multiplayer shooter. But its best feat may be what it doesn't want to be: your part-time job.

In FBC Firebreak, teams of three players go on missions called Jobs, in which they have to cleanse various sections of the unpredictable Oldest House, fighting The Hiss with an array of weapons that feels decidedly Remedy-like. Control's wide variety of Hiss enemies was on exciting display in the mission I saw, called Paper Chase, in which FBC first responders had to make it through hordes of corrupted agents using weapons like a piggy-bank mallet, all before fighting a gigantic boss monster that had formed from millions of sticky notes, like a chaotic blend of Office Space and Ghostbusters.

FBC Firebreak leans into some classic co-op mechanics, such as complementary player builds, but it leans into Remedy's weirdness, too.

The demo I saw showed off several "Kits," each of them meant to lean into a type of play and collectively complement each other in a three-person squad. The Jump Kit uses electricity abilities and offers buffs to mobility; the Fix Kit is a tanky offering with a huge wrench for melee attacks; the Splash Kit is designed as a support class that can disrupt the environment using a water-based loadout.

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The Sims fans, rejoice. Finally, a competitor to the life simulation game is around the corner as InZoi launches on March 28. Ahead of its release, Krafton is providing access to the game's Creative Studio mode via a demo on Steam, but you'll need to complete a few steps before you can play it.

The first part of the Creative Studio is the Character Studio, where players can create their character, called a Zoi, whether they choose to go true-to-life, replicate a celebrity or character, or just come up with a brand-new creation. The second mode is Build Studio, where you can design a house from the ground up, including decorations. It even has the ability to use custom textures, so you can import your own home's artwork should you so wish.

A custom character made in the Inzoi Character Studio

To get access to the InZoi Creative Studio follow these steps:

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Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is taking to the seas, as the game's first expansion, War Sails, will introduce naval warfare to the unique medieval action-RPG sandbox on June 17.

War Sails will expand Mount & Blade 2's world map and introduce an entirely new region to the world of Calradia: the Northern Kingdoms and its surrounding sea. It's there the Viking-themed Nords call home, and they can be traded with, recruited, or battled against, just like Mount & Blade 2's other factions.

But the real star of the expansion is the introduction of naval battles, where players can master the wind, upgrade and customize ships, and defeat their enemies on the high seas. Rivers come into play as well, with players able to sail up them to strike into enemy territory, cut off supply lines, and blockade enemy towns.

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At the Future Games Show: Spring Showcase, publisher Arc Games revealed a video game adaptation of Frosthaven. Based on the popular board game and in production at Snapshot Games, development on the project is being led by CEO and X-COM creator Julian Gollop. Isaac Childres--who designed the Frosthaven board game--is also involved with the adaptation and fans can check out a closed beta playtest for Frosthaven starting March 27 and running through April 24. This will feature six starting character classes and 20 quests to try out.

"We're very excited to bring Frosthaven into the digital realm," Gollop said in a press release. "With this video game adaptation of Frosthaven, all of us at Snapshot Games know just how beloved the board game is and have been taking great care of replicating the board game experience as much as possible. We feel that fans of the board game, both newcomers and long-time veterans, will find that the video game we're working on is not only a faithful adaptation but also another way to play their favorite board game in a more accessible way to help introduce their friends to the game."

If you've never played it, Frosthaven is a spiritual successor to the board game Gloomhaven. One of the most successful board games to be crowdfunded through Kickstarter, the core focus of Frosthaven is on carefully managing resources, coming up with powerful synergies between character classes, and exploring a world of grim fantasy.

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Into The Dead: Our Darkest Days is coming to Steam in just a few weeks as an early-access game. The news was revealed during the latest Future Games Show. The 2D zombie survival game debuts on April 9 for $25 and is a spinoff of a series that's gathered 150 million downloads on mobile.

Unlike the original mobile games, which are first-person auto-runners, Into The Dead: Our Darkest Days is a 2D third-person survival game set in Texas circa 1980 that asks players to manage characters' health and wellbeing, scavenge for supplies, and build a base. Combat is best avoided, as just one or two undead monsters can kill playable characters, especially if they're already injured, sick, or tired.

Into The Dead: Our Darkest Days lets you build out a base, but demands you defend or even ditch it when it's time.

Like State of Decay, the game features permadeath, so there are no do-overs and killing off your entire community will spell game over. The game's dwindling resources and difficult choices are reminiscent of This War of Mine, routinely asking players to choose the best of a bad bunch of options.

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Bloober Team has been busy recently, with the recent Silent Hill 2 remake garnering critical acclaim and its next project, Cronos: The New Dawn, due later this year. Today, during the Future Games Show, the Polish studio not only announced a new development studio in Broken Mirror Games, but also the label's first project: I Hate This Place, an adaptation of the popular comic series via a partnership with Skybound Entertainment.

I Hate This Place is an isometric survival-horror game that puts players into the role of Elena, who finds herself dealing with a supernatural evil she mistakenly unleashed into the world. Elena will fight her way through hordes of monsters with both melee weapons and firearms, while also crafting important supplies in her bid to reach each safehouse before nightfall.

I Hate This PlaceGallery

A brief teaser trailer shows off the adaptation's visual style, which will use a retro comic-book theme similar to its source material. We also see a few of the giant monsters Elena will face off against, as well as a brief tease of the Horned Man at the center of it all.

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33 Immortals couldn't be further from Spiritfarer if it tried. Developer Thunder Lotus made an impression with its cozy and, at times, tear-jerking management and platforming mash-up, but is trading its glistening seas and carefree exploration for a far more dangerous expedition. 33 Immortals is all about action, thrusting you and over 30 others other players into chaotic PvE skirmishes and even greater challenges as you attempt to ascend through the different floors of the underworld and wage a rebellion against the forces that keep you there.

33 Immortals attempts to distill the rush of an MMO raid into smaller, run-based encounters that you can participate in with up to 32 other players. Each run starts on a relatively large map that revolves around PvE encounters. You're encouraged to quickly link up with other players in order to survive, while also empowering yourself by killing enemies and collecting resources for upgrades. Dotted around the map are 12 Torture Chambers, which are your initial objectives to tackle. These combat arenas only allow six players in at a time but through two intense waves of enemies at you in a confined space. Clearing these rooms offer rewards, but also work towards the greater goal of unlocking an ascension challenge. The stakes shift here, with a more involved combat encounter waiting for a larger group of 11 players. Those remaining outside can use the time to continue getting stronger before attempting the challenge too, with the final, climatic boss fight waiting once everyone still alive manages to succeed.

As its name implies, 33 Immortals sees you teaming up with 32 other players.

The structure that each run follows offers an easy to understand process that you need to follow to ultimately succeed, stripping out a lot of the guesswork usually associated with raid-like activities in games like Destiny and World of Warcraft. This not only allows runs to be significantly shorter, but also means you can easily hop in and out of sessions without having to commit potentially a few hours at a time to make progress. This streamlining is exactly what 33 Immortals is aiming to achieve, but right now it comes with the caveat of reducing your focus solely down to its combat, which doesn't yet exude a level of depth that suggests it'll be enough to carry run after run.

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If you're looking for a unique way to experience the Harry Potter book series, consider diving into the Interactive Illustrated Editions. These beautiful hardcover editions include full-color artwork alongside interactive papercraft elements based on iconic moments from the story. Interactive Editions of the first three Harry Potter books are currently available, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Interactive Illustrated Edition is up for preorder for a 20% discount ahead of its October 14 release.

See all four Interactive Editions Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Interactive Illustrated Edition (Hardcover) $40 (was $50) | Releases October 14

The Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Interactive Illustrated Edition is a special hardcover edition of the fourth novel in the series with new cover art and 150 full-color illustrations by Karl James Mountford.

Along with artwork throughout, eight scenes from The Goblet of Fire are accompanied by interactive elements. Scholastic has teased a few of the papercraft components: the Weasley family tent at the Quidditch World Cup, the moment Harry sees the Dark Mark in the Sky, Harry's journey to the Lake at Hogwarts, and the maze from the final challenge of the Triwizard Tournament.

The Goblet of Fire: Interactive Illustrated Edition is 608 pages, which is markedly shorter than the original 752-page hardcover, but it's worth emphasizing that the upcoming edition still contains the complete unabridged text.

Preorder at Amazon Harry Potter: Interactive Illustrated Editions

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone -- $21.61 ($38)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets -- $19 ($38)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban -- $22.39 ($40)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -- $40 ($50) | Releases October 14
• Harry Potter: Interactive Illustrated Edition Box Set (Books 1-3) -- $82.38 ($116)

Harry Potter fans interested in starting a collection of Interactive Illustrated Editions can save big on the first three books. A box set compiling the first three released last fall, but it's roughly $20 cheaper to buy each book individually right now. The only downside to buying each book on its own is you miss out on the gorgeous display box. Like Goblet of Fire, the first three novels each contain over 150 full-color illustrations and eight interactive elements.

Harry Potter: Interactive Illustrated Edition Box Set (Designed by MinaLima)

The Interactive Illustrated Edition series debuted in 2020 with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The second book in the series, Chamber of Secrets, was published in 2021, and was followed up by Prisoner of Azkaban in 2023. Notably, those three books were designed and illustrated by MinaLima, a design studio who worked on the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film franchises from the beginning.

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The latest Palworld update v0.5.0 added several new features to the game, and it finally lets you make use of all the schematics duplicates you find in the game. Here we'll walk you through the steps needed to use those old Palworld schematics as upgrades for better rarities.

Palworld's schematic upgrades explained

Palworld's schematics can help you craft better weapons and gear, but the really helpful high-rarity schematics are often difficult to obtain. Like the name suggests, those high-rarity schematics are indeed very rare.

Instead, you probably have tons of low-level schematics stored away in your game because they feel useless. Now, the latest update lets you use those duplicates to craft higher-rarity versions.

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The latest Palworld update added several new features to the game, including the ability to change your armor appearance without affecting the armor's stats. This new feature is tied to a craftable item in the game, and here's what you need to know in order to swap your character's look.

Palworld's Transmog feature explained

This new cosmetic armor feature will allow you to change the appearance of your armor without affecting any of its stats. Unfortunately, this only allows you to change between armor types you currently have unlocked in your inventory. This means you can't swap to a high-level look with fancy armor you haven't gained access to yet. You also can't change the colors beyond the game's current options.

It's still a nice feature to have, but you'll first need to craft an item to use it. You'll need to interact with an Antique Dresser, which is an item you may or may not have access to build at your base.

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After years of development, Assassin's Creed Shadows is out now. You don't need a console or a high-end PC to play the game, however, as it's available to stream in multiple places.

In addition to being available to stream for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers, people can sign up for Nvidia's GeForce Now service to stream it there after buying the game outright. This is similar to the Game Pass option, as its part of the "stream your own game" perk for Ultimate subscribers.

If you're new to GeForce Now, the appeal of this service--and cloud gaming platforms in general--is that you can play new games without needing powerful, expensive local hardware. That's because games stream from, in this case, Nvidia's server racks.

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Palworld's massive update v0.5.0 added several new features to the game, including the ability to transfer Pals between worlds. This new ability is added with the inclusion of the new Global Palbox craftable item. Here's everything you need to know to start transferring your Pals.

Palworld's Global Palbox explained

This new feature lets you save your Pal's genetic data and reconstruct them in a different world via the new craftable Global Palbox item. It's basically like copying and pasting your favorite Pals into other worlds you create. You just can't duplicate and add more than one Pal with the same genetic data into the same world.

To make use of this new feature, you'll first need to unlock and build the Global Palbox.

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Naughty Dog has revealed the PC specs for The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, which launches on April 3. There are also going to be new content additions for the roguelike No Return mode.

Naughty Dog provided four PC presets: Minimum, Recommended, High, and Very High. On the low end, the game runs at 720p at 30fps and on the very high end, while the target experience is 4K resolution at 60fps. The game requires at least 16 GB of RAM, but the Very High setting requires 32 GB. As for the GPU players will need at least a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 / AMD Radeon RX 550XT, while the high end requires a Nvidia GeForce GTX 4080 / AMD Radeon RX 7900XT.

PC features include adjustable texture quality, LOD distance range, volumetric quality, shadow quality, ambient occlusion, and reflections quality. There is also ultrawide monitor support up to 48:9 resolutions, as well as keyboard and mouse support along with full control remapping.

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The launch of Grand Theft Auto VI later this year--assuming it's not delayed--is poised to be a major moment in the world of video games. According to Greg Rice, who is the lead curator for Day of the Devs and works at PlayStation, GTA 6 will be a huge success that won't necessarily negatively impact smaller games.

"[GTA 6 is] going to be the best, awesome, giant game for the year, for sure," Rice, speaking on behalf of Day of the Devs, told GamesRadar. "I hear a lot of the opposite of devs, worried about it sucking all the space out. 'I don't want to launch during GTA week or even month, because that's all anyone's gonna be playing.'"

Rice believes GTA 6 will be a smashing success--because of course it will--and he also believes the video game industry has matured enough to allow for other, potentially smaller games to flourish at the same time. "It's gonna be a combination of 'there will be games that will be successful around GTA time because they're totally different,' but it'll also bring a lot more people back into the ecosystem," he said.

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For the last couple of years, the Epic Games Store has given away free games every week through its PC storefront. With the company having launched its own mobile store, it has also started a second free games program on iOS and Android devices, kicking things off with a curated library of titles and weekly freebies. The app also features mobile versions of Fortnite, Fall Guys, and Rocket League Sideswipe.

To access these games you will need to create a free Epic account and install the free Epic Games Store mobile app and log in with your account, but once you do, you can start claiming your free games every Thursday through it. One other thing to note is that Android users can access the app via Android-based emulation devices like Retroid Pocket, as they aren't limited to just smartphone and tablets.

Download the Epic Games Store Mobile app

For now, only iOS users in the European Union can install the app, but the app is available worldwide to Android device users and they have a wider selection of games to choose from in comparison. Like its PC counterpart, you'll have one week to grab each game that's offered. Here's a closer look at what you can grab this week, and what the current mobile games library has to offer. You can also explore what the free PC games are this week on the Epic Games Store.

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Spring is officially here, and Fanatical is celebrating with an excellent Build Your Own Play On The Go Elite Collection bundle. You'll get to choose your own games from a list of 21 Deck Verified titles, and the more games you bundle together, the more money you'll save. Purchase five or more games to get each for $7, three or more to get each for $7.25, or at least two games to get each for $7.50. All games are delivered as official Steam Keys, and there's no limit on how many you can pick, so you're free to add all 21 to your bundle if you want. As a bonus, you'll get a 5% off coupon for your next Fanatical purchase.

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There are some impressive games to choose from, many of which regularly cost at least $20. High on Life is arguably the most popular title of the bunch, and having the chance to add it to your collection for just $7 is a great deal. Created by the folks responsible for Rick and Morty, it features a bizarre sense of humor and a unique arsenal of weapons with their own special abilities. Our High on Life review gave it a solid 7/10, and it's certainly worth a closer look as a part of this bundle.

Other notable titles include side-scrolling Metroidvanias like Haiku The Robot, Death's Gambit: Afterlife Deluxe Edition, and the Guacamelee Collection (which includes both Guacamelee and Guacamelee 2). If you're into creepy horror adventure games, The Mortuary Assistant is worth adding to your bundle, while those who prefer cheerier, cozier vibes can check out Bear's Restaurant and Critter Café. There's also 8-Bit Adventures 2, which offers a modernized take on classic pixel art console RPGs like the original Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.

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