‘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…

Stylish platformer ‘Neon White’ arrives on Switch and PC next week

Fans of Donut Country creator Ben Esposito won’t have to wait much longer to play his new game. At Summer Game Fest, Annapurna Interactive announced Neon White is launching on June 16th on both PC and Nintendo Switch. Alongside news of a release date, the publisher also shared a new gameplay trailer, showcasing the game’s unusual mix of platforming and card-based shooting. Engadget senior editor Jessica Conditt interviewed Esposito about the game last March and came away excited to play it.    

‘Stormgate’ is a new free-to-play RTS from the director of ‘Starcraft 2’

In 2020, Starcraft 2 production director Tim Morten left Blizzard to start Frost Giant Studios. At Summer Game Fest, he finally showed off what he and his team have been working on for the past two years. We got our first look at Stormgate, a new free-to-play real-time strategy game that runs on Unreal Engine 5. Morten didn’t share too many details on the project but said the game would feature two races at launch.  

Frost Giant features some serious talent. In addition to Morten, former Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne campaign designer Tim Campbell is part of the team working on Stormgate. Frost Giant plans to begin beta testing the game next year. 

‘The Callisto Protocol’ gameplay trailer is as bloody as you’d expect

After a moody first trailer, Striking Distance Studios, a team made up of former Dead Space developers, has released new gameplay footage from its upcoming survival horror title, The Callisto Protocol. Shown off during Summer Game Fest, the clip was captured on current generation hardware, according to host Geoff Keighley. The trailer sees the game’s protagonist fight their way through a claustrophobic environment using an arsenal that will be familiar to any Dead Space fan. Their primary weapon maims enemies in much the same way Isaac’s Plasma Cutter did Necromorphs. The protagonist also has access to a telekinesis ability that allows them to use the environment to deadly effect.  

Striking Distance Studios will release The Callisto Protocol on December 2nd, about two months before EA’s Dead Space remake arrives on January 27th, 2023.  

‘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…