February is very nearly upon us, and whether love is in the air for you or not, you’re at least guaranteed a rundown of some of the week’s most important gaming news today!
As we’ve said before, January is, traditionally, a less busy month for studios as employees return to work and the release calendar pivots towards more interesting and small-scale releases (although this isn’t universally the case).
With that said, we’ve still got lots for your brain to chew on, so join us with your favourite hot drink and let’s take a look at the week in gaming news!
An explosion was reported at Rockstar North
Rockstar North, the studio responsible for heading up development of Grand Theft Auto 6, was subject to an explosion this week, and it’s not yet clear whether said incident will impact GTA 6’s development or not.
As reported by the Scottish Herald, Rockstar North’s building was cordoned off in the early hours of January 19th as police and fire crews responded to reports of an explosion.
A Rockstar employee later confirmed to Eurogamer that the explosion was caused by a faulty boiler, and that the studio remains “open and operational”, which is a relief. Nobody was hurt.
Marathon gets a release date
Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter Marathon was given what we assume will be its final release date this week, so it’s finally safe to start getting (tentatively) excited.
Arriving on March 5th, Marathon will reboot the legendary narrative FPS series as a multiplayer-focused experience in which your job will be to explore maps, loot them for goodies, and extract before it’s too late.
The game has had a fairly troubled development cycle, especially by Bungie’s standards, so it remains to be seen whether Marathon can find a home for itself when it launches.
Xbox Game Pass’ next January haul has been revealed
More games are making their way to Xbox Game Pass this month, as you’d probably expect, and there’s a pretty decent haul in store for those who are subscribed.
Games like Death Stranding: Director’s Cut, Anno: Mutationem, and The Talos Principle 2 will be made available for Game Pass members throughout the month, as well as titles like Space Marine 2 and weirdo nun adventure Indika.
Of course, Game Pass’ new structure makes it a little difficult to discern exactly which tiers games will be available for, so make sure to check the listing yourself to see if your tier is covered by your most wanted game.
Life Is Strange: Reunion brings an end to Chloe and Max’s saga
This week, Deck Nine and Square Enix revealed Life Is Strange: Reunion, a brand new chapter in the Life Is Strange saga that pledges to reunite Chloe and Max for the last time.
The game will see both Max and Chloe taking up protagonist duties, so you’ll be playing both of them, utilising their unique Rewind and Backtalk powers to navigate tricky conversations and situations.
You’ll be able to check this one out on PC and current-gen machines on March 26th. Here’s hoping for a Switch 2 port sometime in the future as well.
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is now Switch 2-ready
Nintendo released an update for Donkey Kong Country Returns HD this week, and it brings a bunch of new features for the game on Switch 2, as well as some additional content.
As well as improving the resolution and visuals on Switch 2 (and the loading times to boot), this update also adds Dixie Kong into the mix, so you can play as her in single-player or co-op play if you want.
You can also enjoy the new Turbo Attack mode, in which you’ll be tasked with racing through “high-speed versions” of each of DKCHD’s levels. This should serve as a great excuse to revisit one of the ape’s most beloved adventures, if you ask us.
Ubisoft has killed the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake
Yep, you read that right. Ubisoft has officially canceled the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, as well as a number of other projects that were in the pipeline.
It’s all part of a cost-cutting initiative that will see Ubisoft streamlining its approach and focusing on “enhanced quality” and “long term value”, which, presumably, the Sands of Time remake wouldn’t have offered.
Several other unannounced projects were also cancelled, according to Ubisoft. As far as we know, Beyond Good and Evil 2 remains safe for the time being, but there’s no telling for just how long that will remain the case.
Xbox’s Developer Direct reveals new info galore
We got a look at three major upcoming releases during an Xbox Developer Direct showcase this week, namely Fable, Forza Horizon 6, and Game Freak’s Beast of Reincarnation.
Fable looks as though it’s shaping up pretty nicely; it’ll take the form of an irreverent action RPG with frequent The Office-style interview cutaways to maintain the series’ trademark humour, and it’s coming in autumn.
Forza Horizon 6 is bringing its open-world racing to PC and Xbox in May, and Beast of Reincarnation looks like a fun departure for Game Freak as well, although it apparently has a relatively small team working on it. You can check out a recap here.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has some juicy new info for you
We got a Nintendo Direct presentation showcasing the upcoming The Super Mario Galaxy Movie this week, and it’s got some new characters for you to enjoy, plus an earlier release date than expected.
As revealed during the show, Yoshi will be joining the cast of the movie, which is now releasing across US cinemas on April 1st, and he’ll be joined by none other than Super Mario Bros. 2 antagonist Birdo.
Otherwise, the movie looks to offer the same sort of sumptuously-animated shenanigans that made the first Super Mario movie a hit, so this one looks like it’ll be safe to take your kids to if you’re after some no-frills entertainment.
