That’s right – we’ve somehow come to another week’s gaming news summary, even though it feels like barely any time has passed at all since the last one. How does this keep happening?
Well, regardless of time’s continued insistence on linear motion, we’re not going to be boring you with details of what the weather was doing this week; instead, we’re moving straight on to the gaming world.
Without further ado, grab a drink as you usually do, pull up that chair that’s become so well-worn over our time together, and let’s once again take a look at what’s been happening in the world of gaming over the past seven days!
Indies are delaying because of Hollow Knight: Silksong
In late August, the Hollow Knight: Silksong release date was finally revealed, and since the game has so much hype surrounding it, that announcement is having a knock-on effect on other indies.
Several indie games have pushed back their release dates owing to Silksong, including the likes of school-bound strategy RPG Demonschool, slot machine roguelike CloverPit, and fellow Metroidvania Aeterna Lucis.
Some of these games have only been delayed by a few days, but others have pushed their release dates back by entire months due to not wanting to clash with one of the most anticipated games of recent years.
Helldivers 2 takes the fight to the Hive Worlds
A new update for Helldivers 2 was announced this week, and you’ll finally be taking the fight to the Terminid Hive Worlds and the horrifying burrows they conceal.
The game’s Into the Unjust update will see squads (or solo players, if you’re feeling brave) venturing into the underbelly of Hive Worlds in order to complete a variety of new objectives.
You’ll also be battling a range of new Terminid enemies, including creatures that burrow underground and wait for the perfect time before re-emerging, and those creatures won’t just be appearing in the aforementioned tunnels, either. Yikes.
We’ll definitely be seeing another Clair Obscur game
This week, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 developer Sandfall Interactive confirmed that we haven’t seen the last of its gorgeous turn-based RPG franchise, for a franchise it now most certainly is.
As revealed in an interview with YouTuber MrMattyPlays, Clair Obscur is “the franchise name” for the series, and there will be a range of other stories told within that franchise, assuming Sandfall gets its way.
Work has seemingly already begun on the next Clair Obscur title, although Sandfall’s Guillaume Broche says it’s still too soon to announce exactly what the team is cooking up for the continuation of this popular series.
No Man’s Sky gets a new update that lets you build starships
Hello Games released a brand new update for No Man’s Sky this week, and the Voyagers update allows you to build and customise your very own starship to your heart’s content.
The new system is modular, so you can add a variety of different weapons and internal elements to it if you want. You can also step outside the ship anywhere in space and float around contemplatively if you wish.
Of course, that’s not all there is in the update; you’ll also find lots of gameplay improvements and new stuff to check out, so make sure to take a look at the full rundown we linked above if you want to know everything about Voyagers.
Crystal Dynamics has been hit by more layoffs
Sadly, this week also saw the announcement of yet more layoffs, this time at Tomb Raider and Soul Reaver studio Crystal Dynamics, which is letting “a number” of its employees go.
The decision, Crystal Dynamics said on LinkedIn, was taken in order to “ensure the long-term health of our studio and core creative priorities in a continually shifting market”.
Essentially, that seems to us like a way of saying that the industry is in a very precarious place right now, and the same thing that’s causing layoffs everywhere else has now caused them to happen at Crystal Dynamics as well.
Honkai Nexus Anima is a new Honkai game from the Genshin folks
Genshin Impact developer HoYoverse revealed a brand new game in its Honkai series this week, and Honkai Nexus Anima blends familiar elements from some pretty iconic games.
From the likes of Teamfight Tactics, it takes the auto-chess strategy gameplay that sees you assembling teams of critters to exploit synergies and take out your opponents quickly.
Elsewhere, you’ll see the same kind of overworld exploration that makes other HoYoverse games such a joy to play, so if you’ve ever wanted a marriage of those two genres, you’re in luck.
UK Steam age verification kicks in
Valve introduced age verification for UK users this week, and the method the company has chosen to use is, while understandable from a legal perspective, potentially problematic for many users.
According to Valve, you’ll now need a valid credit card in order to view mature content on Steam; users under 18 can possess debit cards, but they’re not eligible for credit cards, so this is an easy way to prove age.
The problem? A huge number of UK adults don’t have credit cards, which means that for many, age verification on Steam is now either impossible or vastly more difficult than it arguably needs to be.
Yooka-Replaylee is coming out in October
Hey, remember Yooka-Replaylee, the remastered version of the curate’s egg that was 2017 platformer Yooka-Laylee? Well, it’s coming out in October, so it won’t be long before you can revisit the lizard and bat’s adventures.
According to developer Playtonic, the game, which launches on October 9th on PC and current-gen consoles (including the Switch 2!), is “the definitive remade and enhanced version of the 3D indie platforming collectathon darling”.
We’re not sure we’d go quite so far as calling it a “darling”, but it will be nice to get another chance to play a game that had slightly too many flaws to be an unqualified recommendation the first time around.
