Game News 2.0

Grumpypants · 27-02-2026 03:52PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124269609#Comment_124269609

Watching the DF video on it, seems like a huge improvement.

I'd RE9 on the list for when I had some free time but this makes me tempted to buy today.

EoinMcLovin · 27-02-2026 04:05PM

First look at kratos

https://twitter.com/i/status/2027397749357134177

Penn · 27-02-2026 04:12PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124269859#Comment_124269859

Assumed it was AI at first but seems to be real and posted on official accounts.

In fairness, it's going to be hard for screenshots to do it justice because Kratos especially is a very weird and unique character model. It ticks all the boxes, just hoping it looks good in action. And as always, it's the performance which will matter most rather than accuracy of the look.

Cordell · 27-02-2026 04:13PM

FFS that can be me there, I've got it all: beard, bald head and overweight dad belly.

Zero-Cool · 27-02-2026 04:18PM

Surely they could have picked a better picture to take, the crouch down, hands on legs, mouth open... Weird easy to give a first look.

Potential-Monke · 27-02-2026 04:18PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124269771#Comment_124269771

I suspect it's a move in response to Xbox turning into a pc. Can't be having PS Console exclusives playable on Xbox now, can we?

Seems a strange u-turn alright, if the profit numbers are to be believed. Maybe the devs couldn't be bothered with the extra effort (however much it may be) to port to pc.

While others will look at the negatives, I'm gonna hope it results in positives. Lot easier to concentrate solely on developing for 1 (1.5) system(s), and if the launch of the PS6 is pushed out because AI is making everything too expensive, then we could enter a golden era of excellent PS5 games. Like most consoles that get the best games towards the end of its life, an extended end of life should produce more and better.

Nintendo haven't gone pc yet, and seemingly no rabid insistence it should be...

Retr0gamer · 27-02-2026 04:38PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124269897#Comment_124269897

It's a weird one because the price of PC is probably helping PlayStation games as well. The PC ports aren't handled by the main developers either so it's not a resource hog.

I just hope we don't see Nixxies now going the way of bluepoint.

sniper_samurai · 27-02-2026 05:46PM

The next main Pokémon game has just bern announced for Switch 2 releasing next year.

https://twitter.com/i/status/2027420966922441149

Retr0gamer · 27-02-2026 06:33PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124270108#Comment_124270108

It amazingly doesn't look like an open world game from 1999 running on a 3dfx voodoo 2.

McFly85 · 27-02-2026 10:39PM

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2026-02-27/sony-s-bluepoint-pitched-bloodborne-remake-before-closure

Schreiers take on Bluepoint. As technically good as they are, they do seem to really struggle with an original design. I definitely have pity for them being tasked with a pretty terrible sounding live service effort though.

Bloodborne was probably their best hope but Sony obviously value their relationship with Miyazaki enough to not go ahead without his support. Pitching Shadow of the Colossus again reeked of desperation.

I’m surprised they weren’t involved at all in the god of war remakes though. Maybe that points to them being total overhauls/reimaginings rather than just updating graphics.

MikeRyan87 · 02-03-2026 09:30AM

NateTheHate reporting Cory Balrogs new game will star Faye from Ragnarok. Interested but I wish he moved away from GOW to start something new. I guess GOW 2018 and Ragnarok sold so much that Sony didnt want to risk starting a new IP. Over saturation incoming.

I knew it wouldn't be a sci-fi game like was rumoured after the Intergalactic was revealed.

Gameplay is meant to be closer to DMC.

Penn · 02-03-2026 10:01AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124277524#Comment_124277524

From the sounds of things, rather than just being a GoW 2018/Ragnarok type of game starring Faye, the combat is supposed to be very different and more like a Devil May Cry game (which I suppose would make it closer to the original GoW games than the most recent two).

I don't mind, particularly if they get Deborah Ann Woll back to star as Faye. It's a franchise which is fairly ripe for spin-offs given the mythology it all comes from. I also think he's been working on it since before Ragnarok (he wasn't the Game Director for Ragnarok, he had passed that on to someone else), so I think this is more than just Sony pushing for more GoW content, but something that he's actively interested in doing himself.

Potential-Monke · 02-03-2026 11:53AM

We haven't been let down yet with Corey's visions and intent, so if true I'll watch with interest. But I'll also echo a comment I saw on reddit over this; I'm tired of everything getting leaked. We've lost some of the joy of surprises with all these leaks and rush to get the first and as much info as possible. It's why I've no issue with the price of PS+, I'm experiencing games I'd never heard of and getting pleasantly surprised every now and then.

Cordell · 02-03-2026 12:08PM

I'm saying quite the opposite, have early access / open betas as soon as possible, see how the audience responds, so be able to pull the plug early on very expensive games that no one wants to play.

CatInABox · 02-03-2026 12:19PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124277930#Comment_124277930

Ah, early access like this, as a kind of incubator for games, would work for very small indie teams. Even to get to early access for a major AAA games, you're talking millions. There'd be a load of layoffs if a game got to early access and was then pulled, probably even studio closures.

The industry is in dire straights.

Cordell · 02-03-2026 12:35PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124277954#Comment_124277954

Yes, you're right, AAA big budget games still cost millions to get to a alpha / demo stage, but it will cost a lot more, in both layoffs and closure and money down the drain, to bring it to the end. Maybe the industry needs to change, and change its ways and change the development process. Go back to the one level shareware concept. Develop in partnership with the audience, let people test early versions and change the planning and development process to prioritize having something worth sharing as soon as possible.

But I'm sure if they ever attempt anything like that, the suits will make sure it will be a DRM protected demo shared under NDA with a select few gaming journalists.

Retr0gamer · 02-03-2026 01:35PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124277989#Comment_124277989

That's ok for multiplayer games but often you will find that gamers don't actually understand what they actually like. If you want to do something new it really isn't a good way to make games.

The big problem are corporate executives that don't understand games or anything really. All they care about is shareholder value so when they see a new trend they hop on the bandwagon expecting infinite growth and money and not realizing that it only takes 2 or 3 games in the genre to saturate the market and on the 3 or 4 years it takes to put a game out, the gaming landscape could have drastically changed.

They are also just about the quick wins. Everything has to hit big out of the gate and has to be a major success. They won't put money into something that if supported will be a big success. Take the souls games. They were basically a game made by a team that wanted to make a game to appeal to themselves and no one else. It was give the space and time to grow becoming more and more popular before hitting critical mass with Elden Ring 15 years later. That would never happen with the likes of EA where they will kill off a franchise of it doesn't hit sales targets or have corporate meddling and turn, say a horror game like dead space, into a co-op shooter with crafting and tank the entire series by going after trends.

Honestly the whole triple A space feels like movies in the 1970s where the big studios collapsed and smaller projects took over. The industry the righted itself and but they are starting to make the same mistakes again.

johnny_ultimate · 02-03-2026 06:43PM

A follow up to the AI review controversy last week, Aftermath has published a great investigative piece on the parent company in question and how they’re ruining various sites they’ve bought up with AI slop and gambling spam. The Escapist is among the other well known sites under this company’s ownership now.

https://aftermath.site/gameshub-clickout-media-seo-gambling-ai/

Grumpypants · 03-03-2026 12:26AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124277888#Comment_124277888

+1 on the PS+. Played some very interesting games recently that I'd never have bought.

Exit 8

Still wakes the deep.

A quite place the road ahead.

Indika

Animal well

Thank goodness you're here.

sniper_samurai · 03-03-2026 07:59PM

First image of the Life is Strange series released by Amazon.

https://twitter.com/i/status/2028879362745876926

Penn · 03-03-2026 09:42PM

Another victim of the "Unless it's an instant success, it's dead" modern gaming industry.

The Iron Giant · 03-03-2026 09:43PM

Highguard being shut down permanently this month. It lasted just over three Concords.

johnny_ultimate · 03-03-2026 09:54PM

What a **** waste of the developers’ time and work. Even a bad / mediocre game being wiped from the face of the earth after a month is depressing.

McFly85 · 04-03-2026 08:59AM

I will never understand the thought process for how this game was developed and marketed.

4 years to develop with zero information about it until shortly before release sounds insanely high risk for a live service game that evidently has an incredibly short timeframe to build a player base.

Live service development seems much more suited to the early access model. Stand something up relatively quick and get players to see what works and what doesn’t. Even if the whole thing ends up canned it’s not something that didn’t eat up too much time and money.

Penn · 04-03-2026 09:17AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124283365#Comment_124283365

That's why Geoff Keighley did way more harm to the game than good. He saw the game a few months before The Game Awards and was so impressed by it that he gave them not just a free trailer spot at TGAs, but made it the final game trailer.

That set expectations about the game way the f*ck too high. If the game had had a pretty low-key drop, more people would have accepted some of the flaws, it's a work in progress, they could turn it around etc, and they might have kept enough of a playerbase to work on the issues and improve the game. Setting the bar so high meant when it wasn't a huge smash right out of the gate, the name is tarnished, people say "This game isn't the next big thing" and they move on. People were expecting more from the game at launch specifically because it was the big final trailer at the end of TGAs, a spot usually reserved for pretty big reveals (though of course as per the list below from Reddit, not all those games were huge successes either).

2025: Highguard

2024: Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet

2023: Monster Hunter Wilds

2022: FF16 Release Date Trailer

2021: Matrix Awakens Tech Demo /Matrix 4 trailer

2020: Mass Effect (Working Title)

2019: Fast and Furious Crossroads

2018: Joker DLC for Super Smash Bros.

2017: Metro Exodus

2016: Mass Effect Andromeda

2015: The Walking Dead Michonne

CatInABox · 04-03-2026 09:27AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124283402#Comment_124283402

Yeah, I'd take that "Geoff saw it early and was very impressed so he gave it a good slot because he's a sound bloke" story with a massive pinch of salt.

Highguard was a Tencent game, and Geoff has a huge commercial relationship with Tencent. Doesn't seem like a conspiracy to say that Tencent rewarded him to show it.

CatInABox · 04-03-2026 09:29AM

Speaking of Tencent, they're fighting to stay on trump's good side, but it may be a losing battle.

https://www.ft.com/content/dc140eb8-77e5-4b54-b643-637f66371ec2

It's pauwalled.

Penn · 04-03-2026 09:37AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124283420#Comment_124283420

It was the studio founder and game director who said it;

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/highguard-was-planned-as-a-shadow-drop-but-geoff-keighley-had-another-idea/1100-6537655/

That was the plan, at least until Keighley told Wildlight he loved the game and had an idea. He wanted to highlight the free-to-play shooter from an independent studio as part of the show, according to Welch.
"He came into the studio and played the game I think twice and he said, 'Guys, can I propose to you, I want to do something that's unique...I want to put it in this spot and kind of do something different and bring this to the world,'" Welch said. "And that wasn't our plan, but like, are we going to turn down the exposure...Who would turn that down?"

To be honest, I saw it more that a) Keighley probably couldn't get a big enough game for the final reveal, and b) may have felt like if Highguard was the final reveal and went on to be hugely successful he could in turn command a higher price and more interest in the final reveal spot in the following years using Highguard's success. I don't think he's a 'sound bloke', he's a shrewd businessman at the end of the day (motherf*cker helped kill E3), so I think he likely saw it as mutually beneficial if it all worked out. Maybe he actually was paid by Tencent to show it, or maybe he just wanted to keep up good relationships with them, but I do also think he probably thought the benefits outweighed the negatives for both the Game Awards and for Highguard.

Cordell · 04-03-2026 12:08PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124282438#Comment_124282438

It is depressing, but it's a symptom of a bigger problem, that is, bad management. Which is either suits that never played a game in their lives, or as in this case, industry veterans that are now out of touch or think that one previous success makes them invincible. And as usual no one will learn any lesson from this.

johnny_ultimate · 04-03-2026 02:52PM

Jason Schreier finally reporting out his comments on Sony pulling back from PC. Ghost of Yotei and Saros reportedly the first two games that won’t make the jump, despite their predecessors having done so.

Lack of sales on several PC titles seems to be a factor, but I’d suggest that’s because of the belated releases compared to PS5 and somewhat messy rollout cadence.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-04/sony-pulls-back-from-playstation-games-on-pc?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc3MjYzMTM4OSwiZXhwIjoxNzczMjM2MTg5LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUQkRNVTVLR1pBS0owMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.iJ25MhKjr88ECoSb_2cT3JX9MqYduN3JmMm63yusBVE

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