Game Informer

Game Informer

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick Apologizes For 'Tone Deaf' Statement, Read Full Letter Here

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 08:43 PM PDT

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has issued a letter to his employees following the news that a walkout is planned for tomorrow. The walkout is the latest step employees are taking to improve work conditions following details of a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard from the state of California over reported gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace going public. 

Game Informer has obtained a copy of the letter from Kotick to the company as a whole, stating that it has "been a difficult and upsetting week." The letter goes on to denounce the initial Activision Blizzard response, agreeing with the community that the messaging was "tone deaf" and that it is "imperative" that the teams come together and "acknowledge all perspectives and experiences and respect the feelings of those who have been mistreated in any way." He added, "I'm sorry that we did not provide the right empathy and understanding."

The letter continues, saying:

Many of you have told us that active outreach comes from caring so deeply for the Company. That so many people have reached out and shared thoughts, suggestions, and highlighted opportunities for improvement is a powerful reflection of how you care for our communities of colleagues and players – and for each other. Ensuring that we have a safe and welcoming work environment is my highest priority. The leadership team has heard you loud and clear. We are taking swift action to be the compassionate, caring company you came to work for and to ensure a safe environment. There is no place anywhere at our Company for discrimination, harassment, or unequal treatment of any kind. We will do everything possible to make sure that together, we improve and build the kind of inclusive workplace that is essential to foster creativity and inspiration.

Kotick also details an immediate plan of action, with the first mandate of enlisting the help of an external law firm called WilmerHale. WilmerHale will investigate current policies within the company to "ensure that we have and maintain the best practices to promote a healthy and inclusive workplace." Given the inflammatory and egregious nature of the allegations at hand, WilmerHale is likely to face an especially challenging task. 

The CEO also provides contact information for Stephanie Avakian, who is revealed to be most recently the Director of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Enforcement. This contact information is to be used by anyone that feels or has felt uncomfortable while working at Activision Blizzard in conjunction with the ongoing investigation. 

As for what's next ahead of the court proceedings going forward, Kotick has listed the below actionable items in response to the aforementioned lawsuit: 

  1. Employee Support. We will continue to investigate each and every claim and will not hesitate to take decisive action. To strengthen our capabilities in this area, we are adding additional senior staff and other resources to both the Compliance team and the Employee Relations team.
  2. Listening Sessions. We know many of you have inspired ideas on how to improve our culture. We will be creating safe spaces moderated by third parties for you to speak out and share areas for improvement.
  3. Personnel Changes. We are immediately evaluating managers and leaders across the Company. Anyone found to have impeded the integrity of our processes for evaluating claims and imposing appropriate consequences will be terminated.
  4. Hiring Practices. Earlier this year, I sent an email requiring all hiring managers to ensure they have diverse candidate slates for all open positions. We will be adding compliance resources to ensure that our hiring managers are, in fact, adhering to this directive.
  5. In-game Changes. We have heard the input from employee and player communities that some of our in-game content is inappropriate. We are removing that content.

The message ends with a message of support and a desire to offer a "welcoming, comfortable, and safe" work culture. To learn more about the harassment lawsuit, please refer to our previous coverage here. 

Netflix Dragon Age TV Series Rumored To Be In Development

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 05:12 PM PDT

Netflix has been holding nothing back in terms of taking up as much space in the gaming community as possible. Whether that be by actually offering games or just delivering surprising adaptations, the streaming company has been on a roll, and now it looks like it's rolling towards Thedas with a new rumor. That's right; apparently, there is a Dragon Age TV series in the works over at Netflix, at least if recent rumors are to be believed. 

In a new report from a "trusted source," Giant Freakin Robot has learned that a reported Dragon Age TV series is in the works. No details were offered at this time, but if I were to guess, I would say that it would be in an animated format if this is happening. The reason being is that a Dragon Age adaptation would be massive when retelling the tales of Thedas. That, and any BioWare-related adaptation has usually been animated. Even Dragon Age has had its previous spinoffs with Cassandra's origins story in Dawn of the Seeker. 

With no details and no confirmation from BioWare or Netflix, it's hard to speculate what this new series could be about, or even if it truly exists. That being said, we do know that Dragon Age 4 will continue the story that began without Wardens deep into the hearts of Tevinter, Nevarra, and the beautiful Antiva. We know that the recent comics have also been rooted deep within the land of blood mages and magisters with Tevinter, as well, so I would assume that anything branching away from that would take a new approach. Whether that be an adaptation of the games themselves or the incredible books and comics that spawned after is anyone's guess, but Thedas is huge, which means that there are a billion and one different ways a TV series could go. 

Regarding Dragon Age 4, we didn't get a new trailer during EA Play, but we did just recently get some fancy new concept art that features The Crows! If interested, check out our previous coverage here, where you can see my tinfoil hat in the shape of Zevran in action. 

It will be interesting to see where Netflix goes next with its gaming journey. What do you think about a possible Dragon Age TV series? Would you want an adaptation or a new Thedas adventure entirely? Sound off with your thoughts in the comment section below! Unless the comment section is still showing disabled, then @ us at GameInformer over on Twitter with your thoughts and come back when we've got them back up and running! 

Best PC Games To Play On Steam Deck When It Releases

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 04:26 PM PDT

Valve announced its own handheld device just a few short days after Nintendo's reveal of the Switch OLED. Called the Steam Deck, Valve's contribution to handheld gaming is literally a small PC in the palm of your hands. If you have huge hands, this thing is not small. Shortly after this announcement, we shared which games you cannot play on the Deck at launch; though Valve is currently working on circumventing that restriction, we thought we should even things up slightly. So, here are the games I can't wait to play and that you should check out when the Steam Deck arrives! 

Baldur's Gate 3

Despite still being in Early Access, therefore incredibly restricted in terms of content, I can't stop rolling new characters and replaying what is available in Larian's Baldur's Gate 3 adventure. Since the fantasy journey launched in Early Access, the studio has made many changes to what players can expect. From new classes to more room to explore, each update brings this game ever closer to its full release. With a massive world to trudge through and tiny little caves that house untold dangers, taking this particular D&D saga on the go is more than a little perfect. Even more so with the campfire feature reminding me of another favorite RPG venture: Dragon Age Origins. 

Go ahead, romance that hot vampire, you know you want to. 

Death Stranding

When I first tried Death Stranding out on PlayStation, it was a game I wanted to like very much. My first degree is actually in philosophy - you can hear responsible adults laughing at me in the background if you listen closely - so Kojima's creative way of seeing the world has always appealed to my analytical mind. Because of that, this was a title I very much wanted to love and vested far more time into it than I'd like to admit. But I just couldn't feel that connection, though I enjoyed the overarching experience. Then it came out on PC, and I decided to try again. 

A little warmer, but no dice. 

I think for a game like this, in terms of my own personal enjoyment, playing outside of the box may be that secret little puzzle piece that unlocks the bigger picture. Death Stranding will be something I plan on diving deeply into once more to give it one more shot! And if the Steam Deck's freedom isn't enough to make it to the final stretch? That's OK too! I won't like every game, just like you won't, and that's alright. Still, can you imagine playing this on the go? Exciting! 

Fallout 3

You can almost hear the image above, can't you? Of the Fallout series, the third game is my favorite, depending on the time of day you ask me. Flipping between 3 and Obsidian's New Vegas, this is another RPG experience I can't wait to re-enjoy on the Steam Deck. 

Since it's an older title, especially on Bethesda's engine, this game doesn't have the best graphics to offer, which means the smaller screen won't be detrimental to the Vault-Tec experience. And it gives you the excuse to flaunt those Black Widow skills once more for some sweet, sweet loving. Ooh, la la.  

Portal 2

The Portal franchise is a gift wrapped up in perfection atop beauty. This physics-breaking adventure from Valve may not ever see the third game, but the first two were memorable gaming experiences that broke convention. Pairing witty humor, existential crisis, and a murderous AI robot that sometimes can become a potato, the Portal experience is one that never grows tired. Escape each level from your back porch, from your bed, or during a long road trip. Its mechanics will keep your mind engaged, and the story will keep you entertained in the best way possible. 

Just don't bring up lemons, please. We can't hear Cave Johnson's tangent again. 

Divinity: Original Sin 2

A game that lets you bone a literal bag of bones, I mean come on? What more could you want? 

All jokes aside, this is another Dungeons & Dragons treasure that you can easily tank hundreds and hundreds of hours into. In a similar style of Baldur's Gate 3, this RPG adventure offers a tale centered around murder, mystery, and more romance. Do you see a pattern here? Sorry about that...

This game is also by the same team that made Baldur's Gate 3, so if you liked that but can't wait for the full version, then Original Sin 2 is a must-play. You can read our full review here if you need a little extra nudge. 

Dragon Age: Inquisition

OK, yeah. I see it now—last game type like this, promise. Pinky swear! I say Dragon Age Inquisition because this seems to be a divisive entry out of the three games despite winning numerous awards. It's the longest of the BioWare games, with a total completion sometimes clocking in at over 200 hours. Inquisition tied up loose ends of the first two games, including what happens after Anders' rebellion, learning more about the name behind Varric's crossbow, and seeing little Connor all grown-up once more after his harrowing experience in Redcliff. It also offers some of my personal favorite characters in gaming history, including the one and only Dorian Pavus. 

There is a lot to love about Inquisition, but it definitely suffers from pacing issues. Many people, when they tell me they didn't enjoy Inquisition, have mentioned that they never made it past the Hinterlands or never made it out of Haven and onto Skyhold. I believe that the game does not truly begin until Skyhold has been claimed and that the joy of this Thedasian adventure lies within exploring the limitless open world. If you played it once and didn't enjoy it, I urge you to try so again, this time with the comfort of portability at your disposal. 

Mass Effect Legendary Edition

To me, what makes the Mass Effect trilogy story so special is the characters themselves. Throughout 30 years of gaming, I've become so attached to thousands of characters, all with something special to add to any gaming adventure. That being said, there is something about the progression of getting to know Mass Effect NPCs that feels organic, real, and not unlike how we build friendships and romantic relationships in real life. They are special in a way that, even as a writer, I'm not sure I could convey properly. 

The dialogue feels natural and engaging. There are squabbles, there is the process of having to win someone over, and these characters go to hell and back with each other. That sort of shared experience creates bonds in any situation, and that connection is conveyed expertly with the narrative structure and the in-game mechanics. As someone who was on active duty, there were real-life situations I went through with people that couldn't stand me and vice versa. Those situations we endured together, though? That forged a bond that transcended previous perceptions. That same transformative relationship building is very much evident in the Mass Effect trilogy and something that can be felt on a universal scale no matter each player's IRL journies. 

Through loyalty missions that dig deep into these characters' pasts to dialogue options that shape how these characters see the player within this world, every action feels meaningful and impactful, which is a large part of why Mass Effect is so incredibly immersive. These characters matter. They matter to Shepard, and they matter to you. 

Final Fantasy XV

Boy Band meets America's Next Top Chef. This Final Fantasy adventure is massive and puts a more modernized spin on the Square Enix franchise, and 14 has a story that shouldn't be missed. Drive around with your pals, flirt with cute mechanics, and eat some of the best dinings on this side of gaming. 

While there are many light-hearted moments in this particular adventure, Final Fantasy XV houses a much darker tale, one that centers around the scorned Ardyn Lucis Caelum with Noctis and his friends charged with solving boundless mysteries. The world of XV is massive and offers unthinkable freedom for players, but it's more than just its pretty scenery. Final Fantasy XV tells a meaningful tale of friendship, trust, and fighting for what you believe in. It's about taking back your home, your power, and sharing in that with those closest to you. While there are some lulls, the ability to take it with you on the go with the Steam Deck is just the thing to mosey you on right past those. 

Red Dead Redemption 2

I still remember the day that Red Dead Redemption 2 was announced. After years of begging for a continuation of the Western story, Rockstar Games finally delivered with a prequel rather than a sequel. And it was a smart move because fans of John Marston got to see a younger outlaw and were given a chance to fall in love with a new star found in Arthur Morgan. The second game in the Redemption series broke barriers with its stunning attention to detail with every blade of grass, every horse print in the snow. The legacy continues with Red Dead Online, which is now available as its own standalone experience, for a chance to be the badass cowboy you were always meant to be, but this time with your friends. 

Still waiting on that Undead reveal, though...

The Witcher 3

The Witcher 3 is a fantasy adventure, yes, but I promise it's not like Divinity Original Sin or Baldur's Gate 3. It's a little like Inquisition, but only because of the steamy romance, but it really is an incredible journey. Another game that is impossibly long, especially if you're planning on running through the post-launch expansions, the most recent Witcher game is a ride no player can forget. With Netflix having its own live-action adaptation of the books that inspired the games, plus a spin-off show and an anime, now is the perfect time to get acquainted with what it means to be a witcher that is facing a world filled with monsters, prejudice, and temptation. 

Force Roach, the trusty steed, up onto rooftops like old times, only this time? You too can play it atop of a roof. I don't recommend it and legally I can't tell you to do that, but if you so happened to find yourself on a roof playing this game? Well, I wouldn't be mad at it. (Just be safe!!!)

And there you have it! Those are the games I can't wait to play on the Steam Deck when it arrives late 2021, early 2022! And keep in mind, this is just 10 picks on what I would personally like to see you check out and what I'm looking forward to playing on the Deck. There are so many more options if these don't suit your fancy! Go the DOOM route for some epic destruction, go Control for a mind-bending nightmare, or take it to the underworld with the incredible Hades title! Play what you want how you want, that's what portable means.

If you missed out on the announcement and want to learn more about the specs, feel free to check out our previous coverage here! 

A Hidden Face With An Eyepatch Sets Off More Abandoned Speculation

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 02:30 PM PDT

Blue Box Game Studios is heading towards not only the release of their game Abandoned, but first the launch of a real-time trailer app for the PlayStation 5. Set to release on August 10, this app now known as "Abandoned: Real Time Experience" will feature multiple in-engine videos running off the PS5 hardware. In a new tweet today, Blue Box posted a teaser image for the app that's reviving some fan theories about the project having Konami's and/or Hideo Kojima's involvement.

"Are you ready? We are!" reads text of the tweet. At first glance the image in the tweet above looks like only a logo. I missed the true teaser hidden in the background the first few times I looked at it. Behind the blurred facade you can make out the silhouette of a person's head, and closer inspection will reveal what looks to be an eyepatch the right eye. A white line follows along the brow of the face. Could it be a reflection of light, or possibly more text concealed behind the blur?

Twitter users are running with the image which obviously looks like any variation of Metal Gear Solid's Snake donning an eyepatch. Some are even trying to de-blur the image to give a clearer look at the face, others are attempting to decipher the unreadable text above the logo. Now that I'm thinking about it, that font is looking very familiar as well… 

Some theorists are focusing on the face:

Others are taking a stab at the hidden text:

While another group of dreamers have their own grand ideas: 

Blue Box Game Studios and Abandoned have been under a microscope for months regarding theories the game is connected in some way to Hideo Kojima, Konami, and the Silent Hill franchise. Some think the game's director Hasan Kahraman's name is code for Hideo Kojima, while others followed wilder clues tied to the name of the studio and the famed Death Stranding creator. Hasan denied the studios involvement with Konami and Silent Hill last month in a video posted on Twitter, however, if that's true, this new teaser image is not helping to alleviate that rumor. I was on the side of Abandoned having nothing to do with any Konami property, but now I don't know quite what to think. 

We'll find out soon enough because the Realtime Experience app for Abandoned is ready for preload on July 29 PlayStation 5, and goes live with the first trailer on August 10. Hopefully there will be some answers to the gaming community's ever-growing list of questions in there. Abandoned is scheduled to releases sometime this year on PS5 and on PC "eventually."

What are your theories for Abandoned? Are we just getting trolled, or is there actually a connection here? Let us know in the comments!

Newly Announced Spyro Statue Is A Collector’s Dream

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 02:00 PM PDT

Today we got word of a newly announced figure from First 4 Figures, a team that consistently pumps out some of the nicest video game collectibles we've come across. Available today for preorder, the company's new line-up of figures from Insomniac's Spyro 2 are especially striking.

The new figure line celebrates that fondly remembered 1999 PlayStation release, Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage. The statue is modeled directly off the adorable dragon's appearance on the cover for that game, including raised right paw, forward lean, and a seeming mischief in his eyes. The statue exhibits immaculate color work, and realistic textures on Spyro's scales, wings, claws, and more.

While Spyro himself appears the same in both versions, the trappings that surround the hero vary based on which version you choose to purchase. The more expensive definitive edition is set in a detailed resin base inspired by the portal seen near the end of the game (after taking out Ripto). The portal features light-up LED orbs and triangles. The whole PVC piece stands at 9 inches in height, and will put you back by $224.99, at least if you preorder during the "early bird" period that runs until August 11. After that, expect the price to move up to $249.99.

The exclusive edition is pictured here, and the definitive edition above at the top of the article

If you're looking for a more affordable way to celebrate one of your childhood gaming buddies, the same statue is available through the exclusive edition, priced at $99.99 during early bird pricing, and $109.99 if you choose to wait until after August 11. The big difference here is the smaller base, which shows Spyro surrounded by fire. In this version, the figure can light up with LED lighting for a static flame effect, or an animated one, which makes it look like the fire is flickering.

Regardless of which version you select, and when you choose to order, estimated release for the new Spyro 2 figures is set for Q2 2022. If Spyro isn't your thing, First 4 Figures works with a number of video game properties, including these Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Zelda & Link statues, or this massive Shadow statue from Sonic the Hedgehog.

The Batmobile, K.I.T.T., And Other Famous Cars Roll Into Hot Wheels Unleashed

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 01:13 PM PDT

Mattel just unleashed a list of the cars Hot Wheels Unleashed players will enjoy at launch.  In addition to signature favorites, that bunch also includes famous vehicles from popular properties like TMNT, Back to the Future, and more.

The company confirms 66 cars will be available to unlock in the game on day-one. To collect them, all you'll have to do is play the game. Hot Wheels originals such as Boneshaker, Twin Mill, and more are sure to please enthusiasts. For those of us who are less plugged into the scene but would still like to drive something recognizable, a new trailer also revealed the addition of five iconic vehicles from pop culture:  

  • Party Wagon (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
  • Snoopy (Peanuts) 
  • K.I.T.T. (Knight Rider)
  • Time Machine (Back to the Future)
  • Batmobile (Batman)

Of course, "Time Machine" refers to the DeLorean in regards to Back to the Future. Snoopy, meanwhile, sits perched atop his dog house but is sadly not in full Red Baron mode despite the pose. For me, the Batmobile's resemblance to the classic Animated Series version makes it my favorite car of the lot. 

Click here to watch embedded media

Mattel also shared the list of real-life vehicles featured in the game:

  • Audi R8 Spyder
  • Audi Sport Quattro
  • '55 Chevy
  • Copo Camaro
  • '71 El Camino
  • '69 Dodge Charger Daytona
  • RAM 1500 Rebel
  • FIAT 500
  • '32 Ford
  • 1956 Ford Truck
  • 2018 Ford Mustang GT
  • Humvee®
  • Honda S2000
  • 2020 Koenigsegg Jesko
  • Mini Cooper S Challenge

If you haven't heard of Hot Wheels Unleashed until now, the game offers a more arcade-style of racing with players speeding across the signature orange tracks to the finish. The kicker is that you're literally a life-sized diecast vehicle (meaning you're small) in giant rooms, like a garage for example. While it's not a kart racer in that it doesn't feature Mario Kart-style power-ups, Hot Wheels Unleashed is still presented as an over-the-top experience. You can watch extended gameplay footage here. 

Hot Wheels Unleashed crosses the finish line on September 30 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.

Are you excited to play Hot Wheels Unleashed? What other famous cars would you like to see in the game? Let us know in the comments! 

Activision Blizzard Employees Stage A Walkout Following "Abhorrent" Response To Harassment Lawsuit

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 12:25 PM PDT

Following the news that the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) is suing Activision Blizzard for labor abuse, sexual harassment, and various other reported mistreatment, the company issued a statement in an attempt to debunk and reduce the claims. Now, Activision Blizzard employees are staging a walkout in protest of the "abhorrent and insulting" statement from executives as a way to support the ongoing suit.

The walkout is poised to begin on Wednesday, July 28, and is meant to be a show of support for the ongoing lawsuit. Game Informer learned that a driving factor behind this public display is because many "don't trust [Activision Blizzard] to do the right thing and help the people asking for help" from a Blizzard employee that wishes to remain anonymous. In a separate statement to Polygon, a protest organizer told the site, "We believe that our values as employees are not being accurately reflected in the words and actions of our leadership." The statement continues, saying that the hope is to "improve conditions for employees at the company, especially women, and in particular women of color and transgender women, nonbinary people, and other marginalized groups."

The protest is in conjunction with a statement that was made public earlier this week, a joined effort signed by over 2,500 current and former employees. The allegations against Activision Blizzard detail reported incidents that are "violations of the state's civil rights and equal pay laws." Much of the alleged behavior laid out in the lawsuit targets women and other marginalized groups, including reported evidence that shows widespread gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and long-term behavior from those in supervisor roles that is even a contributing factor to one employee's suicide. 

The full letter is as follows: 

To the Leaders of Activision Blizzard, We, the undersigned, agree that the statements from Activision Blizzard, Inc. and their legal counsel regarding the DFEH lawsuit, as well as the subsequent internal statement from Frances Townsend, are abhorrent and insulting to all that we believe our company should stand for. To put it clearly and unequivocally, our values as employees are not accurately reflected in the words and actions of our leadership. We believe these statements have damaged our ongoing quest for equality inside and outside of our industry. Categorizing the claims that have been made as "distorted, and in many cases false" creates a company atmosphere that disbelieves victims. It also casts doubt on our organizations' ability to hold abusers accountable for their actions and foster a safe environment for victims to come forward in the future. These statements make it clear that our leadership is not putting our values first. Immediate corrections are needed from the highest level of our organization.

Our company executives have claimed that actions will be taken to protect us, but in the face of legal action -- and the troubling official responses that followed -- we no longer trust that our leaders will place employee safety above their own interests. To claim this is a "truly meritless and irresponsible lawsuit" while seeing so many current and former employees speak out about their own experiences regarding harassment and abuse is simply unacceptable. We call for official statements that recognize the seriousness of these allegations and demonstrate compassion for victims of harassment and assault. We call on Frances Townsend to stand by her word to step down as Executive Sponsor of the ABK Employee Women's Network as a result of the damaging nature of her statement. We call on the executive leadership team to work with us on new and meaningful efforts that ensure employees -- as well as our community -- have a safe place to speak out and come forward. We stand with all our friends, teammates, and colleagues, as well as the members of our dedicated community who have experienced mistreatment or harassment of any kind. We will not be silenced, we will not stand aside, and we will not give up until the company we love is a workplace we can all feel proud to be a part of again. We will be the change.

The above response dropped shortly after former CEO and co-founder Mike Morhaime issued his own statement, telling former employees that he understands that he failed while expressing regret over past inaction. His statement received mixed reactions from the gaming community. Some former employees of Blizzard Activision weighed in thanking Morhaime for not deflecting, while others claimed that the former CEO knew exactly what had been going on over the past decade. 

The action against Activision Blizzard is a result of over two years of investigation. In the allegations, the lawsuit alleges that HR was fully aware of the culture happening and that attempts to seek help from Human Resources were reportedly ignored. "Employees were further discouraged from complaining as human resource personnel was known to be close to alleged harassers," details the lawsuit documents. "As a result of these complaints, female employees were subjected to retaliation, including but not limited to being deprived of work on projects, unwillingly transferred to different units, and selected for layoffs."

To learn more about the current state of the lawsuit, you can read the full legal documents here. 

Exclusive: Meet Darkest Dungeon 2's New Character The Runaway

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 11:52 AM PDT

Publisher: Red Hook Studios
Developer: Red Hook Studios
Platform: PC

The world is at its end. Wild accelerationist cults set fire to the cities. Pastoral baronies become insatiable hungering mouths upon mouths. Only your ragtag band of guilt-ridden adventurers can kindle a glimmer of hope to stop the ancient, encroaching evil. With a host of new terrors to overcome, a massive shift to a run-based roguelike structure, and a bold new character, the cosmic aberrations of Darkest Dungeon are poised to serve up fresh challenges and horrors with this scintillating sequel from Red Hook Studios.

[Editor's Note: This article also appears in Game Informer Issue 338]

Darkest Dungeon 2 isn't content to live in the shadow of the hamlet from the first game. Instead of continuing with the town-building aspects and dungeon crawling of the original game, Darkest Dungeon 2 puts players on a doomed caravan ride into cursed biomes crawling with unbridled decadence. With the stakes as high as the world coming to an end, environments that were hanging on by a thread have spiraled into madness, embracing the worst elements of themselves that were always hidden away. As you ride through the world with a hand-picked crew of adventurers, death and despair are always lurking right around the corner. The same great turn-based combat and stylish gothic look of the first game return, but with constant decisions to make around every corner of each run.

Click here to watch embedded media

That said, don't fear too much – you acquire hope (an in-game currency) from all of your runs, which you can use to unlock various components to show up in subsequent runs, new characters, skills for your caravan, and even permanent boosts. So even as all is lost – and it will be, frequently – you venture toward the final destination with some degree of progress. A successful run currently looks like it will take around four hours, so it's important to reiterate that players unlock all kinds of special things at the account level based on each journey.

Instead of maneuvering from tile to tile on a dungeon map, the player instead navigates through a map filled with various encounters, destinations, and boss battles. If you're concerned that the roguelike nature of the game means there isn't a cohesive narrative or a canonical ending, fear not, there is an actual ending in the final version of the game. While much of the cast returns for the adventurers, some skills have been changed, edited, or removed to facilitate the new game environment. In addition, characters have more skills to pick from, allowing players to create more diverse and interesting teams.

While the choice to stop at a hospital to heal rather than opt-in to a deadly boss fight may seem obvious, there are other foibles at work here to keep you stressed as you fight for safety and sanity. As in the first game, the concept of the torch remains an essential element. Unlike the first game, the light is critical to continuing the journey, and if it goes out, you're going to die quickly. To keep things lit, you must continue to battle enemies and reduce their numbers from the land. But making time to stop at other checkpoints where you can trade with the hoarder, discover ­valuable curios at an academic study, or just help random survivors huddled around a wagon is also important.

"The dark here is not sustainable," says Red Hook co-founder and creative director Chris Bourassa. "And I don't mean that in a fun way. Narratively and from a gameplay standpoint, it's not sustainable. If you run your torch to the ground, just because of what the torch means, this time, it's not just a literal measure of how much light there is. Allegorically, it's the hope for the future that you're sort of carrying on your back. And so if it goes out, it's kind of game over. You get one last shot. We give you a really tough encounter; the cult catches up to you and jumps you, and if you can fight them back, we give you a little bit more gas to try to get ahead and hopefully restore it somehow. But it doesn't fill the same role as it did."

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If all you do on the journey is try to seek out non-combat nodes on the map, you'll end up underpowered and crushed by the weight of darkness. However, try to take on too much or some dangerous high-reward boss nodes, and you may find your adventure ending abruptly. Finding a balance and knowing when to step outside your comfort zone for some advanced risk-taking is what it's all about.

It's important to note that the big zone bosses are optional here (with the exception of the final boss) so if you find yourself completely decimated wandering through an area, it's possible to opt-out of the traditional "area boss" and just push on to the next zone. Of course, this will leave you missing out on the associated treasures, so the next area will be a tougher endeavor.

"It's really a power curve thing," says co-founder and design director Tyler ­Sigman. "So, game design-wise, it's been an interesting challenge. If you avoid every fight, you can avoid the bosses and just try to stay safe, [but] you won't be powerful enough to kill the [final] boss. As you fight, you earn hero upgrade points which are spent to upgrade skills. That's really vital. Basically, if you haven't upgraded any skills, by the time you get to the end boss, you're just not going to be up for it. And so essentially, we try to give you some control over your own power curve, of how many challenges you want."

When you finish each area, you choose between two different areas for the next leg of the journey. Since the game is biome-based, with each area having special inhabitants, you can create a game plan early on – but don't expect anything to be easy. For instance, the inhabitants of the city are quite resilient to fire damage, so it's probably a bad idea to include the Runaway in your crew if you plan to head into the city. However, each area contains modifiers that are different every run, so you must be ready for anything.

Even if you plan to head to the farmlands, maybe the modifier on your 10th run will have something horrible there, so you're tempted to select the other biome instead, even if it is a less than ideal pick for your team composition. Random and incredibly dangerous occurrences that players may remember from the first game, like the Shambler and the Collector, return in some form.

Permadeath is back. If someone reaches the death state, they're gone for good. Since you can't easily head back to the hamlet to replenish your team like you could in the first game, you, instead, have to rely on picking up one new character at an inn. This character may not be tailored to your group at all, but sometimes you have to work with what you have available. This pickup is a one-and-done deal as well, so it's all you get. If someone dies again, you have to struggle along with whatever you have.

"You can't have engagement and emotional attachment without tension and fear of loss. So, if we coddle you and make sure that nothing bad will ever happen to you, you're not going to feel that same level of excitement," Bourassa explains. "Like when your guy survives a death's door roll or something because you're not worried. You know, if he dies, he dies. We're always trying to thread that or walk that line, where what you have invested in could be taken away because that's really the only way you can play poker, right? You have to be afraid of losing your money. That's why people play, because the excitement is high when you win, and it's terrifying when you're kind of on the ropes. To recreate that experience, we have to make sure that the player knows that we are willing to take their chips."

To further engagement with your party members, Red Hook also promises greater insight into the characters you take along for each run, with narrative elements that delve into their backstories and relationships along the way.

And the changes don't stop there. Another aspect that has changed significantly is healing. Players can no longer leave one enemy alive and heal up to full – something that had rife potential for abuse in the original title. Instead, players must heal up outside of combat, which also facilitates group compositions that probably wouldn't be optimal in the original. Don't want to bring a healer along? No problem, live the dream and make that quad-DPS stack.

While early access will allow Red Hook ­Studios to tune things, the current plan isn't to have different difficulty settings like the first game. Instead, in typical roguelike fashion, special modifiers and alterations called mutators let players to ratchet up the challenge if they're looking to whet their appetite for adversity. There's also a good possibility that other roguelike staples, like daily run seeds where you can compare your performance against your friends and the greater playerbase, are also on deck for implementation.

Our next journey into madness probably won't be fully completed for a bit, with early access for Darkest Dungeon 2 slated to arrive this year. After Darkest Dungeon's PC launch, it eventually made its way to console, which we're hoping happens here as well, but nothing has been confirmed. Here's hoping it reaches as many gamers as possible because this is one time that we can't wait for the impending end of the world.

The Runaway

Darkest Dungeon 2 will hit early access with one new character, the Runaway. Like other characters in our merry band of misfits, the Runaway comes from a checkered past. While we don't know the specifics of her sins yet, the Runaway's kit embraces fire, so we can almost certainly assume she did something awful with the element of embers. Fire is a new damage-over-time component in Darkest Dungeon 2, joining its friends bleed and blight (poison).

Eventually, the new character's look was just right. "Visually I thought it'd be neat to have this sort of younger woman with a giant backpack and hunched over; we pulled a little bit from Newt from Aliens, obviously more grown-up," says Red Hook co-founder and creative director Chris Bourassa. "One of my directions to our animator was to channel a sort of a 'bat girl' kind of vibe. So, she's got this cape, and some of the animations are really fluid where it flares out behind her, and she can retreat to stealth and hide."

It took time for the team to iterate on their ideas for the Runaway, but they liked how well she fit into the fiction.  "We just felt creatively she fit the world. She was kind of an extension of the game fiction as a whole, and what better character to debut as a new class than someone who's intrinsically connected to the meta-­narrative of the game itself? We could have done a wandering badass with two handguns or something, but it felt a little rote. So mechanically, we added a new DoT [damage-over-time]; we have fire and burn damage in Darkest Dungeon, too. And we needed an evangelist for that mechanic the same way the plague doctor kind of works for poison or blight."

"We went through a couple of ideas. I think it's easy, it's safe to add a badass, give it a cool weapon and a cool faceplate or something, and you're off to the races," Bourassa says. "But we kind of asked ourselves, 'What type of character would inhabit this world that's crumbling down and falling apart?' And it made sense that some kind of a furtive, scurrying, outwardly disadvantaged ... a little bit like an agile Antiquarian in a sense, but highly proficient in combat. Thematically, it felt like someone who's picking through the rubble of the old world."

The Runaway is a survivor, a scavenger, and a scrapper. Exemplified by those aspects, she fits easily into lineups in multiple positions. However, she may be best at getting into the action hot and heavy and then using stealth to head back into the lineup to a safer area, perhaps moving a friend closer to the fray. The Runaway excels at disrupting foes, applying flames, and adjusting the flow and positioning of battle. Check out the entire Runaway skill lineup (right), and you can start planning on how to place her into your favorite Darkest Dungeon teams.

Click image thumbnails to view larger version

 

                                                                                                            

The Runaway likely won't be the only new face in Darkest Dungeon 2, either. "We're bringing one new character for early access launch, but it's not like we have decided only to make one new one, period," says Red Hook co-founder and design director Tyler Sigman. "Hopefully, if the game finds an audience as Darkest Dungeon did, then you know, DLC, etc."

The Plague Eaters

Every biome in Darkest Dungeon 2 is associated with a faction. In the once-­pastoral farmlands, the Plague Eaters hold dominion over all, consuming everything with their endless mouths. Tiny baronies and humble farms give in to their base instincts, with this faction dealing with the world's impending doom with unchecked gluttony.

"That's really the top line for all the factions. So, I think as the world falls apart, I think more people would give in to their base instincts than not. And so every faction really represents a group of people who give in to the worst parts of themselves," says Red Hook co-founder and creative director Chris Bourassa. "And so what you're doing is, as the world's crumbling and you're making your way across to try to prevent it from vanishing or completely coming undone, you're facing these people who have sort of just willingly abdicated their humanity almost in favor of this kind of base desires."

Their endless eating facilitates their ever-growing bulk and gives them access to powerful regenerative abilities. The many faces of the Plague Eaters are resistant to blight, so bleed and burn are the preferred methods of damage when taking the caravan through the farmlands.

The Plague Eaters are more than happy to eat each other as they fall in combat, so managing the corpses and denying them of their sustenance can make your ­encounters much more manageable. If you let them feed unchecked, expect grueling, lengthy encounters that wear your team down to the ground. Let's meet some of the cast of gruesome foes that you'll meet down on the farm.

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The Lord

Once proud leaders of man and beast, now just beast. These heavy support units can become a big problem if you let them bolster their own lines or enfeeble your own. With tongue lashing and baneful breath, Lords can whittle your troops down to nothing. As with many farm inhabitants, it's best to keep an eye on corpses during the fight and deny the Lord's insatiable hunger whenever possible. If a Lord gets to eat, not only can he regenerate his hit points over time, making the fight last even longer, but he also unlocks an incredibly dangerous stun attack, the bilious cannon. Pro tip: Don't get hit by the bilious cannon.

The Lady

While the Lord isn't afraid to get physical after dishing out some support skills, the Lady prefers to do her damage from the backline. The Lady excels at blighting at range with Be Our Guest, using Mother's Embrace to mess with the player's positioning, or attacking the front characters directly with Mulch. Like many farmland inhabitants, it's best not to let the Lady feed. If she does, prepare for your sanity to take a massive hit as she unleashes a bilious wail. Are you seeing a theme here yet?

Dinner Cart

Yep, it's just a big cart of dinner. This thing will chuck rot at our heroes and make them more vulnerable to other attacks, taunt them, blind them, and otherwise be a massive pain to deal with. In addition to its unsavory standard annoyances, the dinner cart can create fresh corpses for everyone to feast on, making it quite dangerous. The dinner cart can consume corpses too, which allow it to unleash massive amounts of blight and stress damage to your backline. Like other targets that prefer to hide in the back and cause trouble, taking the dinner cart out with ranged attacks before it can deliver its foodstuffs is the best plan of action.

The Maid

The maid helps tend to the livestock. That's right; the Plague Eaters sometimes like to take meals into combat with them. Goats. Cows. Whatever is available. The maid is a rather uninteresting unit when there's no livestock on the battlefield, but when there is, she can buff livestock up, turning them into suitable meatshields. The strategy here is not to let her hide behind livestock or other fetid fiends, hook her to the front and take her out quickly.

The Butcher

Like the maid, the butcher excels in the presence of livestock. The butcher can tear into lines with bleed damage and execute a massive party-wide heal when livestock is around. As you can imagine, preventing this huge heal from going off is the top priority, so that means taking out the butcher or the livestock as fast as you can before working your way to other targets.

Studio Ghibli Inspired Baldo: The Guardian Owls Gets August Release Date

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 11:23 AM PDT

Since its reveal in the summer of 2019, Baldo: The Guardian Owls has quietly risen to become one of most anticipated indie games out there and now it finally has a release date. The Zelda-inspired adventure with Studio Ghibli visuals is launching August 27. 

The adventure stars Baldo, an cheerful young lad who embarks on a grand adventure revolving around an ancient prophecy. Along the way players interact with a cast as colorful as the game's vibrant open world itself. Gameplay consists of third-person combat, puzzle-solving, and dungeon crawling in the style of classic 3D Zelda. In a 2019 interview with Red Bull, Baldo creator and artist Fabio Capone said the game "It isn't focused on combat mainly, although that's a big part of it, but it will share a lot of elements from the Zelda series. At its core Baldo is a puzzle and dungeon game, although there are plenty of other secrets inside."

Check out the original announcement trailer below. 

Click here to watch embedded media

Baldo comes courtesy of Italian studio Naps Team. Capone is a big fan of Studio Ghibli's work (namely Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away, and Mary and the Witch's Flower), and Baldo began as a passion project fueled by a desire to create a game that captured the whimsical tone and presentation of those films. The project has been in development in some form or another for the last 15 years, making today's announcement the light at the end of a very long tunnel for Capone and his team. 

If you like what you see, you can find Baldo: The Guardian Owls on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, and iOS via Apple Arcade. The game looks incredibly charming, so I'm personally excited to finally get my hands on it.  

Are you excited to finally dive into Baldo: The Guardian Owls? Let us know in the comments!

The RPG Issue Featuring Tales Of Arise Digital Issue Is Now Live

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 10:53 AM PDT

RPG fans rejoice! If you're a digital subscriber to Game Informer, you can now read up on Tales of Arise and several other exciting role-playing games we're looking forward to! Following today's cover reveal, our digital issue is now live to subscribers on web browsers, iPad/iPhone, and Android devices. Individual issues will be available for purchase later today. You can download the apps to view the issue by following this link. All of these digital options are included in a standard subscription.

The issue launches later this week on our third-party subscription apps including Kindle and Nook.

Not a digital subscriber yet? Convert your existing print subscription or start a new subscription here.

TALES OF ARISE Master Core Replica and Ultimate Edition Giveaway

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 10:00 AM PDT

A Master Core is made up of a large amount of the world's natural force known as astral energy and exists for each element: earth, water, fire, wind, and light. With enough astral energy, these powerful relics can manifest into spectacular physical forms, but such an immense flow of astral energy requires the wielder to be worthy of the Master Core's owner. Shionne can adjust the flow of the Master Core to manifest the astral energy into the Blazing Sword: a weapon that sears the very hand of anyone who wields it. With so much power, it's capable of matching the powers of a Lord. Maybe even surpassing them.

How would you like to hold in your hands the Master Core? Ok well, we can't actually give you THE Master Core, but thanks to our friends at Bandai Namco Entertainment, we can give you a chance at this amazing replica! There are only 6 of these replicas being created and we have one!

In addition to the replica, as part of the Grand Prize, we will also include a download code for Tales of Arise Ultimate Edition on the system of your choice upon the game's release.

Also, as a special bonus for 10 lucky Runner-ups, we have available a download code for Tales of Arise Ultimate Edition on the system of your choice. 

A little more on Tales of Arise from Bandai Namco:
On the planet Dahna, reverence has always been given to Rena, the planet in the sky, as a land of the righteous and divine. Stories handed down for generations became truth and masked reality for the people of Dahna. For 300 years, Rena has ruled over Dahna, pillaging the planet of its resources and stripping people of their dignity and freedom. Our tale begins with two people, born on different worlds, each looking to change their fate and create a new future. Featuring a new cast of characters, updated combat, and classic Tales of gameplay mechanics, experience the next chapter in the world-famous Tale of series, Tales of Arise.

Click here to watch embedded media

  • Experience the next chapter in the Tales of series, brought to life in stunning HD powered by Unreal Engine 4
  • Dynamic Action RPG featuring an updated battle system that retains classic Tales of gameplay
  • Rich story featuring a vibrant world and new cast of characters
  • High-quality animation created by ufotable

Now, for your chance to win, all you have to do is enter below. Giveaway will run until 11:59 PM CST 8/9/2021. Tales of Arise is rated T, so winner must be a legal resident of the U.S. age 13 or older. Minor will need parents permission to accept prize. First name drawn will receive the Grand Prize and 10 Runner-up winners will be drawn from the remaining entries. Full rules are available with each entry method below. Good Luck!

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                                                                                                             a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal – The RPG Issue Featuring Tales Of Arise

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 09:00 AM PDT

In this issue, we celebrate the role-playing genre, with a special focus on the games we can't wait to play in the coming months and years. One RPG that has our attention is Tales of Arise, which is just a few months away from its September 10 release. We have 14 pages devoted to the next entry in Bandai Namco's long-running franchise, which the esteemed developer is calling a "reinvention" of the series. For our cover story, we played the first chapter of the game and chatted with key members of the development team to discover exactly what this reinvention means. Find out everything from how the new progression system works and how it incorporates the series' hallmark "Titles" to why boss battles are so much more intense this time around. 

You'll also learn more about the two fascinating worlds Bandai Namco created, Rena and Dahna, which are rife with conflict and interesting personalities. At the game's helm are two very different characters from these two very different worlds. One can't feel pain, the other can only cause it. Our cover story dives into how this interesting dynamic drives the narrative and explores darker topics around loss, elitism, and societal decline. And that's only scratching the surface of what's in store for this important entry in the 25-year franchise.

Tales of Arise isn't the only reason to dive into this issue. We also round up some of the most promising RPGs on the horizon and give you a list of games we can't wait to play. This includes deeper looks at Elden Ring, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Astria Ascending, Rune Factory 5, and Shin Megami Tensei V. If you're looking for an RPG to put on your wishlist, we've got you covered.

Next, we spoke with Red Hook Studios' founders Tyler Sigman and Chris Bourassa about the upcoming Darkest Dungeon II. In this deep-dive exclusive, find out what you can expect as the tantalizing turn-based combat of Darkest Dungeon transforms into a roguelike romp across an apocalyptic wasteland. We've got the details on an all-new character coming to the game, The Runaway, and a grotesque faction centered on horrific hunger, The Plague Eaters. Hop on the caravan and get ready to experience the stylized cosmic horror in an all-new way. As a special web exclusive, you can read the entire feature online now.

Brian Shea also takes time to reflect on Sonic the Hedgehog's 30th anniversary. Blake Hester profiles video game developer and internet phenom Ikumi Nakamura about her time across the industry working on projects like Ōkami, Bayonetta, and most recently Ghostwire: Tokyo. Matt Miller rounds up a few RPG tabletop games that can help refresh your game night. And, we round out our previews section with heavy hitters like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel, Halo Infinite, and Metroid Dread. All that and much more in this issue of Game Informer!

Print subscribers can expect their issues to begin arriving in the coming days/weeks. The digital edition of this issue launches this afternoon, July 27, for PC/Mac, iOS, and Google Play. You can also get the latest issue through third-party apps on Nook and Kindle. To subscribe to either the digital or print version, click here.

Most Popular Choices In Mass Effect Legendary Edition Revealed, Last Chance For Mass Effect Freebies

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 08:32 AM PDT

Back in May, BioWare celebrated the release of the Mass Effect Legendary Edition by giving away a ton of free content, including the ability to craft your own character art. One freebie bundle including the Mass Effect OST, the comics, and art books to enjoy, but that offer is about to run out soon, so grab them while you can! In addition to the free loot drop, BioWare also revealed some of the most popular choices that players made in the Mass Effect Legendary Edition. But first, let's talk about the freebies. 

For those looking for some sweet tunes, the full Mass Effect soundtrack is available to download, for free, in addition to the Mass Effect Redemption and Invasion comics respectively. Two mini art book for Mass Effect 2 and 3 are also available in addition to a digital lithograph of the best ship in the galaxy: the Normandy. This offer is only available for a little while longer, so make sure to grab anything of interest right here. 

Ready to dive into some Mass Effect Legendary Edition stats? Good! Just a fair warning, however: the below infographic does contain spoilers for key choices made in the three games. If you have not beaten the trilogy, I would recommend turning away now. 

Still here? Good! Let's break it down: 

Who Is Your Shepard?

32% of players donned the helm of Jane Shepard, whereas 68% assumed the role of John Shepard. The most popular pre-service history is the Earthborn origin story, growing up in gang life until Shepard eventually found themselves in the Alliance. 52% chose the Earthborn life while 27% took on the Spacer role and 21% chose to have the Colonist history. 

What about classes? 

  • Soldier - 40%
  • Vanguard - 21%
  • Infiltrator - 15% 
  • Adept - 11%
  • Sentinel - 8% 
  • Engineer - 5%

In the same vein, 44% chose the Survivor psychological profile, with 43% coming in as a War Hero and a small 13% choosing the Ruthless route. 

Popular Choices

60% of players for the Legendary Edition chose to save Ashley on Virmire over Kaidan, with 6% killing Wrex on the same planet. A whopping 93% decided to ally with the Rachni Queen in the first Mass Effect, with 67% killing the Reaper Breeder Queen in Mass Effect 3. 

96% of players cured the Genophage (good!) with the same amount getting Tali pardoned versus being exiled from the Flotilla. 

For popular squadmates in Mass Effect 1: 

  1. Garrus
  2. Tali
  3. Liara
  4. Wrex
  5. Ashley 
  6. Kaidan

In the Priority Rannoch mission, 80% of players were able to achieve peace, with 11% siding with the Geth and a small 9% siding with the Quarians. This is also tied to how many renegade vs. paragon points a player has, which is something we detailed in our guide here on how to avoid simple mistakes. 

And the most commonly asked question when talking about choices? 68% of players punched the reporter in the face. Myself included. Them's the breaks. 

Surprisingly enough, BioWare didn't detail who the most popular romance option was. Must have been 100% Garrus because he's clearly the right choice. Again, I don't make the rules. 

Want more Mass Effect Legendary Edition goodness? Check out our alive and well hub right here! We've got news, opinion pieces, mods, and so much more! And remember: be the person Mordin would want you to be. 

PAX West 2021 Safety Precautions Change, Now Requires COVID-19 Vaccine Or Negative Test Results

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 07:37 AM PDT

ReedPop confirmed that PAX West 2021 would be an in-person event this year following a year of lockdowns and digital-only conventions. At first, some expressed excitement over the return at some semblance of normalcy, that was until it was revealed that the safety precautions being implemented were the bare minimum at best. Following several notable outlets withdrawing attendance and the community as a whole responding to the PAX announcement, a few changes have been made to the requirements for entry: attendees must either be fully vaccinated or show recent proof of negative test results for COVID-19. 

"Throughout the year, the PAX team has been actively working to support a safe environment for our PAX West visitors," ReedPop tells Game Informer. "We are pleased to announce that, in line with the recommendations of state and local public health authorities, we will be implementing a vaccination or negative COVID-19 test requirement for everyone at PAX West. We appreciate your patience as we worked with our venue and the authorities to create our comprehensive plan."

Following the aforementioned recommendations, the new plan includes proof of recent negative test results with a COVID-19 PCR or antigen test or status of being fully vaccinated. Additionally, attendees will need to supply a valid government ID as proof of person. 

Regarding the initial backlash, ReedPop had this to say: 

"When PAX West 2021 badges were announced, the PAX Team decided to communicate what we could commit to at that time, rather than what we were working toward. While we let the community know the health and safety guidelines could evolve, we wanted to get it right, and we feel confident that verification of fully vaccination or negative test, along with continued face-covering requirements for everyone, will create an environment that promotes the wellbeing of our PAX community."

In addition to the updated safety guidelines, ReedPop also reinforced that additional measures are to be taken, including reduced capacity and mandatory masks to be worn at all times. This applies to attendees, exhibitors, staff, and Enforcers. To learn more, feel free to check out the official PAX West site here. To search for a vaccine center near you, this resource has been helpful in the past. 

Free Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update Dropping Soon With Fireworks, Nintendo Teases Future Content

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 07:13 AM PDT

Ever since Animal Crossing: New Horizons launched back in March 2020, the simulator game has seen a plethora of events. Nintendo has made sure that island life is as fun as possible from holiday celebrations to surprising crossovers. That being said, there has been a significant drop in content this year. Still, there are some fireworks on the way later this month alongside a promise of fresh Animal Crossing: New Horizons content coming down the pipeline. 

The company took to Twitter to remind players that a free Animal Crossing: New Horizons update is dropping this week on July 29. There will be weekly firework shows as well as some new seasonal items, but most importantly? A promise of more on the way: 

Nintendo confirmed in the above thread that more New Horizons content is in development and is slated to arrive later this year. While the post didn't share any details, it did say that more will be revealed "in the future." 

The Animal Crossing franchise is highly beloved by the Nintendo community, and for a good reason. With lovable characters, the ability to create a world all on its own, and a constant rotation of new events to keep things exciting, it's easy to see why this series is such a staple in the gaming community. 

There's only one thing I want to see in future updates, and it's an answer to a question I've had since launch: Where the heck is Brewster? 

What are your thoughts on Animal Crossing: New Horizons' lifespan so far, and what would you like to see in future updates? Sound off with your thoughts in the comment section below! 

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