Though the UK has escaped the hottest weather in the world, this summer has been another stop-start season of sunshine, rain, and surprisingly cool respites, so it’s hard to imagine anyone who hasn’t gotten at least a little of what they want this year.
As we move closer to late August’s Gamescom extravaganza, gaming news often dries up, but there’s been plenty to keep eagle-eyed news enthusiasts occupied this year as well.
Here’s our rundown of what’s been happening this week in the world of gaming news!
Valve could be working on a new Half-Life game
Murmurs emerged this week that Valve could be working on a brand new Half-Life game, and what’s more, it might be one that isn’t tied to VR or any other gimmicky technology.
According to a now-removed listing on a voice actor’s website, Valve is currently developing something with the codename “Project White Sands”, which is listed as a video game.
If you’re up on your Half-Life lore (and your American geography), you’ll know White Sands is an area in New Mexico, which is also where Black Mesa is located in Half-Life.
More evidence subsequently emerged when Valve dataminer Tyler McVicker stepped forward to corroborate the rumours. Exciting!
Star Wars Outlaws is getting Lando Calrissian DLC
This week, Ubisoft revealed the Season Pass content it’s offering as part of Star Wars Outlaws’ roadmap, and it looks like you’ll get to meet one of the galaxy’s most legendary outlaws.
Per the roadmap, the first story DLC for the game, “Wild Card”, is arriving this autumn, and you’ll cross paths with none other than Lando Calrissian.
The second story DLC is coming next year and sees you encountering fan favourite pirate Hondo Ohnaka, so it looks like you’ve got plenty to look forward to if you’re a Star Wars fan.
Xbox Game Pass’ first August lineup has been revealed
The first batch of games dropping for Xbox Game Pass in August has been revealed, and it’s slim pickings, but the games that are up for grabs are pretty solid.
Only three games are heading your way at the start of August, although that’s not technically true, as one of the games is Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, which actually contains three games in itself.
You’re also getting Creatures of Ava and Mafia: Definitive Edition, and there’s more to come later in August as well, so don’t drop that Game Pass subscription just yet, eh?
Dead by Daylight’s Castlevania collaboration steps into the moonlight
We already knew that Castlevania would be gracing the grimy corridors and moonlit courtyards of Dead by Daylight, but we didn’t know who would be joining the game as part of that team-up until this week.
As a news post on the Dead by Daylight website confirms, the vampire lord Dracula is stepping into the fog later this month, and he’s joined by vampire hunter Trevor Belmont.
It’s interesting that Dead by Daylight went for Trevor rather than, say, Richter, who’s currently “starring” in Netflix’s Castlevania: Nocturne. Still, we suppose Trevor is technically the bigger star thanks to his own Netflix series.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is coming to last-gen consoles in September
If you’re still waiting on tenterhooks for a Star Wars Jedi: Survivor PS4 or Xbox One release, then you won’t have to wait much longer, blessedly.
As announced by EA itself this week, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor lands on PS4 and Xbox One on September 17th, although we’re really not sure how it’s going to perform given the game’s infamous issues on current-gen machines.
Expect a relatively modest version of the game if you’re playing on last-gen consoles, but hopefully, it’ll at least be more playable than the game was at launch on PS5 and Xbox Series.
A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead launches in October
There’s no better month in the year for horror games to launch than October, and that’s clearly a viewpoint shared by Saber Interactive’s A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead.
An announcement this week confirmed that the game is set to launch for PC and current-gen consoles (sorry, Switch owners) on October 17th, so get ready to get spooked out of your mind.
The game looks to be a fairly faithful entry into the A Quiet Place series, so expect lots of near-silent sneaking, tense standoffs with alien monsters, and atmospheric world-building.
Indie hit Balatro has a major update coming next year
It seems a little odd to announce a major update for a game when that update is probably at least six months away, but that’s exactly what the team behind Balatro did this week.
As part of celebrating 2 million units sold (well done, LocalThunk!), the devs behind the smash hit poker roguelike announced this week that a “major gameplay update” is coming in 2025.
That update will “bring new ideas and strategies to the game”, so if you’re somehow getting tired of Balatro (which we’re pretty sure is impossible), this should stoke the fire.
Weird West’s developer has revealed its next game
If you thought Weird West was just a touch too far removed from the immersive sims for which developer Wolfeye’s staff (many of whom formerly worked at Prey studio Arkane) were known, the studio’s next game might be for you.
This week, it was revealed that Wolfeye’s next game will be a first-person action RPG with a sci-fi twist, so if you thought Prey desperately deserved a sequel (like any sane human being), then you’re in luck.
Details are fairly thin on the ground right now, but we have seen some fairly evocative concept art, and we’ll hopefully get more information about the project in the next few months or so.
Dead Rising isn’t rewarding perverts anymore
It looks like Capcom isn’t too bothered about courting the opinions of some of the most tiresome people on the internet, because this week, it was revealed that Dead Rising will no longer reward you for taking “erotic” photographs.
The first game’s “erotica” bonus has been removed from the upcoming Deluxe Remaster, although it looks like other bonuses, like “horror” and “outtake”, will remain.
If you ask us, people who were constantly looking to take photos of an erotic nature in a game about killing zombies with baseball bats were kind of missing the point anyway.
