‘Monument Valley’ studio returns with a cerebral and sporty roguelike, ‘Desta’

Ustwo, the studio behind Monument Valley and Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, is working on a new game called Desta: The Memories Between. It features a blend of roguelike, turn-based and sports-game mechanics, and it’s in development for multiple platforms…

‘Layers of Fears’ from Bloober Team hits PC and consoles in 2023

Bloober Team is returning to its roots with Layers of Fears, a “psychological horror chronicle” heading to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC in early 2023. The game is a new story chapter in the Layers of Fear universe, building on the spooky psychedelic foundation laid out in the previous installments.

“We are bringing back a franchise that is really special for us, in a new form that will give players a truly fresh gaming experience and that will shed new light on the overall story,” Bloober Team CEO Piotr Babieno said in a press release. “Our plan was to recreate the games, but we didn’t want to make it a simple collection of two remastered games. We’ve worked out a new approach, something that is maybe not yet obvious. But I can tell you there’s a reason why we called it Layers of Fears.”

Bloober Team launched its original horror franchise in 2016 with Layers of Fear and an expansion subtitled Inheritance. A full sequel came out in 2019, and throughout the years Bloober Team has partnered with major studios to create spooky games including Blair Witch and The Medium.

Last year, Bloober Team entered into a partnership with Konami, the publisher of the Silent Hill franchise, fueling rumors that the studio was working on a remake of Silent Hill 2. These rumors came to a head just before the Summer Game Fest kickoff show this year — but turns out, it was Layers of Fears all along. The studio is reportedly working on multiple games simultaneously, so there’s still a chance for Bloober Team to get in on the Silent Hill franchise.

Bloober Team is co-developing Layers of Fears with Anshar Studios, which also helped out with Observer: System Redux.

‘Aliens: Dark Descent’ is a single-player, squad-based action game coming in 2023

There’s a new entry in the xenomorph video game catalog, this one called Aliens: Dark Descent. It’s due out in 2023 from French studio Tindalos Interactive, Focus Entertainment and 20th Century Games. It’ll come to PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series consoles and PC.

Aliens: Dark Descent is a single-player, squad-based action game. Here’s how the game’s YouTube description reads: “Drop into an original Alien story where players will lead a squad of marines in real-time combat against the deadliest creature mankind has ever faced.”

Players will be able to customize their team’s weapons, armor and abilities, but the xenomorphs will adapt to these decisions. These space monsters are no idle threat, either — in this game, death is permanent for your squad.

“Embark on high stakes missions in treacherous territory, all the while gathering resources to fix up the stranded Otago spacecraft and researching tech upgrades for your crew,” the description continues. “Players will command a squad as one unit thanks to intuitive controls, allowing their Marines to automatically prioritize and execute complex actions in real-time, based on their respective skill sets and the environment around them.”

The new game made its debut with a cinematic trailer during the Summer Game Fest kickoff stream. In fact, it was the first game shown off in the entire show, which must make it feel nice and special.

The trailer shows a squad of Marines hunting and being hunted by a handful of xenomorphs, complete with plenty of gunfire, creeping monsters and interpersonal betrayal.

Xbox Game Pass comes to new Samsung smart TVs on June 30th

Xbox has been talking about bringing the Game Pass Ultimate library to smart TVs for at least a year, and it’s finally happening in 2022. The Xbox app will hit this year’s lineup of Samsung smart TVs and monitors on June 30th, allowing Game Pass Ultima…

‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II’ is actually all about ‘Warzone 2.0’

Let’s get this out of the way: No Russian will not be included in the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. In fact, the game will penalize friendly fire and fail players who shoot civilians while in combat.This is in stark contrast to the No Russian mi…

The first ‘Final Fantasy XVI’ gameplay trailer reveals a summer 2023 release window

Final Fantasy XVI is due to hit PlayStation 5 in the summer of 2023 — and Square Enix has a hot new trailer to prove it. The title’s first gameplay trailer showcases the massive monsters called Eikons and the Dominant humans that inhabit them, and presents chaotic, cinematic battle scenes in a medieval-inspired world.

FFXVI was officially revealed in September 2020 and developers promised to drop more information about it by the end of the following year. But in December 2021, the development team announced the game was nearly six months behind schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that we’ve waited an extra half a year, the gameplay trailer is finally here.

“In our latest trailer, we’ve introduced several new Eikons, as well as provided a more detailed peek at our action-packed battle system and the freedom it gives players,” FFXVI director Hiroshi Takai said on the PlayStation blog. “As for development progress, I’m happy to announce that the game is fully playable from start to finish; though, from optimization to brush-up, there is still a mountain of challenges to tackle as we head into our final push.”

It seems like Square Enix is back on track with its FFXVI development timeline, aiming to release the game on PS5 next summer. It’s set to be exclusive to PS5 for a limited time.

Capcom’s ‘Resident Evil 4’ remake lands on March 24th, 2023

Capcom’s oft-rumored, much-anticipated remake of Resident Evil 4 is officially a thing and it’s heading to PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC via Steam on March 24th, 2023. The studio debuted a trailer for the project during the PlayStation State of Play live stream.

The game will be a revamp of the original, beloved 2005 title starring Leon S. Kennedy and the president’s daughter, Ashley Graham. And, of course, a bunch of homicidal infected villagers.

“We aim to make the game feel familiar to fans of the series, while also providing a fresh feeling to it,” a Capcom producer said on the PlayStation Blog. “This is being done by reimagining the storyline of the game while keeping the essence of its direction, modernizing the graphics and updating the controls to a modern standard.”

Capcom also teased some Resident Evil 4 content built specifically for PlayStation VR 2, the incoming version of Sony’s console VR headset. 

On top of all the old-school remake goodness, Capcom is also building a PSVR2 version of Resident Evil: Village, the latest Resident Evil game. The first trailer for this bit of content features scenes from early sections of the game, focusing on everyone’s favorite tall vampire lady.

The PSVR2 edition of Resident Evil: Village will feature the entire PS5 version of the game. Capcom and Sony partnered up to bring Resident Evil 7 to VR back in 2017, and this formula seems to be working for them.

There’s no release date for Sony’s PSVR2 quite yet, and no word on a release date for that Resident Evil: Village DLC we were promised a year ago.

Activision Blizzard employees form a committee to fight workplace discrimination

A dozen current and former Activision Blizzard employees have formed a committee aimed at protecting workers from discriminatory practices at the studio, outlining a list of demands for CEO Bobby Kotick, newly appointed diversity officer Kristen Hines and chief human resources officer Julie Hodges. 

As detailed by The Washington Post, the group’s demands include ending mandatory arbitration in discrimination cases, improving on-site lactation rooms, protecting workers from retaliation, increasing support for trans employees and instituting independent investigations in cases of discrimination, including sexual harassment. The employee group, called the Worker Committee Against Sex and Gender Discrimination, submitted their demands to the studio’s leadership team today.

The committee specifically demands private lactation rooms and appropriate storage spaces for breastmilk and pumping equipment. Breastfeeding workers at Activision Blizzard have documented their issues with the studio’s lactation rooms, describing them as filthy, uncomfortable and poorly secured. Employees said fridges for breast milk were also used to store beer, that people pumping often had to sit on the floor and that breast milk was sometimes stolen. In regards to trans rights, the group demands the creation of a trans network similar to the in-house women’s resource network and for software tools to be wiped of employees’ deadnames.

In response to the formal call for change, an Activision Blizzard spokesperson provided Engadget the following statement: “We appreciate that these employees want to join with us to further build a better Activision Blizzard and continue the progress we have already made. We have, for example, already upgraded our lactation facilities, waived arbitration, hired new DEI and EEO leaders, and collaborated with employees to make our policies and processes more trans inclusive, just to name a few issues the letter raises. We thank these employees, and will continue to work with all of our employees on our journey to be a better company.”

In October 2021, Activision Blizzard changed its policies and waived mandatory arbitration for individual sexual harassment and discrimination claims. The company intends to extend this policy to class actions regarding sexual assault or harassment, in order to comply with a US law enacted in early March 2022 banning these types of arbitration agreements.

The changes at Activision Blizzard follow a year of legal troubles, intense regulatory scrutiny and employee walkouts at the studio. Activision Blizzard executives have been accused of cultivating a sexist, discriminatory workplace in multiple lawsuits over the past year. California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing first sued Activision Blizzard in July 2021 after conducting a two-year investigation into allegations of unchecked sexual harassment, gender-based discrimination and a pervasive “frat boy culture” at the studio. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal group, followed up with a similar lawsuit against Activision Blizzard in September 2021. Activision Blizzard settled the federal EEOC lawsuit this March, agreeing to establish an $18 million fund to compensate employees who experienced discrimination at the studio.

Backed by the Communications Workers of America, Activision Blizzard employees have been advocating for change and unionization — to some degree of success — since the lawsuits were filed. CWA called the $18 million settlement “woefully inadequate,” arguing it would provide the maximum compensation to just 60 workers, when there were likely hundreds of claimants. 

Former Activision Blizzard employee and campaign organizer for the tech-industry group CODE-CWA, Jessica Gonzalez, appealed the $18 million settlement this week, seeking an increase in compensation. Gonzalez is one of the 12 employees in the Worker Committee Against Sex and Gender Discrimination. 

An additional lawsuit accusing Activision Blizzard of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation was filed this week by a current employee. And there’s the wide-ranging investigation into the studio’s workplace practices currently underway at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Update 5/25 11:55AM ET: Added comment from Activision Blizzard.