Yesterday, at Tokyo Game Show, Nexon launched its free-to-play multiplayer medieval warfare game Warhaven into Steam Early Access, and announced that it will be coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S when it goes 1.0. Warhaven is a team-based PvP title where three squads of four players work to seize strategic footholds, capture objectives, and control the battlefield. You'll engage in melee combat with swords, spears, maces, and other medieval weaponry. If that doesn't do the trick, head for the canon and blow the other team to bits. There’s a bit of a supernatural edge as well, with players able to unlock Immortal powers to sway battles in their favor. The new console announcement trailer reminds me of both For Honor and Chivalry 2, which totally works for me.

At long last, French publisher Ubisoft announced today that Tom Clancy’s The Division 3 is officially in development at Massive Entertainment. The news came alongside the announcement that Julian Gerighty will be leading the charge for the entire Division IP moving forward as the franchise’s executive producer. Gerighty will continue to serve as creative director on Star Wars Outlaws all the way through its launch as well. There are now three games in active development for the franchise – Tom Clancy’s The Division Resurgence, Tom Clancy’s The Division Heartland, Tom Clancy’s The Division 3, in addition to ongoing support for Tom Clancy’s The Division 2.

As part of the announcement, Gerighty said that managing The Division franchise is a massive (pardon the pun) honor:

“There are only a few games that I can genuinely say blew me away the first time I saw them, and Tom Clancy’s The Division is one of them. I was immediately hooked, like so many others who are part of our devoted player community. It’s a privilege and an honor to be able to continue to build incredible and unforgettable experiences in this amazing world with the most talented teams around the world, and I can’t wait for what’s next.”

Now if you've played all the versions of Resident Evil 4, including the remake, then you knew this was coming. Today, the DLC campaign Separate Ways releases for Resident Evil 4 Remake. You take control of Ada Wong, who arrives to the village just before Leon does, on a mission from Albert Wesker. During the Tokyo Game Show presentation, Capcom gave us an in depth look of what to expect, even showing off Ada's grappling hook, which was pretty sweet to watch. 

They also announced that Resident Evil 4 Remake was coming to Apple products iPhone 15 Pro, Max, and and Ipad and Mac with the M1 chip later this year, along with Resident Evil: Village. The PSVR2 version is coming this winter, for the free. Separate Ways will be $9.99USD, and if you have yet to pick it up, Resident Evil 4 Remake is currently on sale at 34% off. Watch Ada work, and take on her new journey, below.

Barrel Smash Studios, the indie team behind the fantastic PvZ-like Riftbound, are continuing to add more and more content to the game. Following the positive reception to Riftbound's first expansion Summoner's Path, which expanded the base game with new roguelike gameplay elements, the team at Barrel Smash are now unveiling a new expansion, titled Demonlore.

For those that have not yet experienced Riftbound, picture a game that uses similar mechanics to Plants Vs. Zombies, but tuned to the point where the player is kept on the razor's edge of defeat, requiring a much higher level of strategy and precision. In our original review of the game, we said "Riftbound is a total nailbiter of a game. Barrel Smash Studios takes the Plants Vs. Zombies model and elevates it to something that requires speed, strategy, and precision at its highest levels, ultimately showing what heights this neglected genre can achieve. Show up for the casual fun, stay for the hardcore gameplay and irresistible addiction."

The new content in Demonlore adds six starting characters, new minibosses, and a "veterancy" mechanic that allows individual units to advance and improve. There are now 10 different runs of varying length, which include different themes and enemy types. The expansion also gives the player the ability to summon high-tiered units directly into battle, without needing to build them up over time. 

The previous expansion dramatically added to the existing game, with a ton of new content and modes that made Riftbound feel new all over again. I'm expecting more of the same from Demonlore; this is a team deeply committed to making the best version of this game possible. Existing players can check out Demonlore right now in the public testing branch of the game. Learn more about Riftbound (and Demonlore) at the game's official website and Discord.

Okay, admit it, you didn't have "OneRepublic makes a song for Assassin's Creed Mirage" on your gaming bingo card for 2023. If you did, be sure you play the lottery this week, because Ubisoft announced today that they have collaborated with the musical stars for a single called "Mirage" and it's releasing this Friday, September 22nd. The song and lyrics are co-written by OneRepublic lead vocalist Ryan Tedder himself, with samples from the game's original soundtrack.

Also, Tedder is apparently one of us, elaborating in the announcement from Ubisoft that he and his band members are all gamers, and fans of the Assassin's Creed franchise:

“Most people don’t know this about me, but my band and I are closet gamers. I’ve been a huge fan of Assassin’s Creed since the beginning. Having toured extensively in the Middle East, I wanted to capture the spirit of that region and reflect the location of the game sonically as much as possible. I can’t wait for our fans and fans of AC to hear what we came up with.  This was a definite pinch myself moment.”

If you’re interested in a sneak peek of the single, you can check out a few seconds on below. Assassin’s Creed Mirage launches October 5^th for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Amazon Luna.

Developer Exit Plan Games has shared a new trailer for its open-world 3D action platformer called Bang-On Balls: Chronicles, launching October 5^th for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. It is a bonkers-looking game that is probably not at all what you’d expect it to be. It features destructible environments, combat, character customization, and the ability to play solo or in co-op. At launch, Bang-On Balls will include five playable worlds: The Bobbywood Studios Lot, The Viking Invasion, Cold Race to Space, Kraken’s Lost Coins, and Time Trouble on Kaiju Island, with a sixth Wild West-themed map coming post-launch as a free update for all players.

Each world is its own self-contained adventure, and thankfully, the brand-new trailer gives a great overview of all five launch maps, which you can check it out below. It looks...bang on. I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.

Despite last year's soundtrack being a bit lackluster (albeit fixed by the Ultimate Playlist), I'm always excited for the tunes from the latest release of EA's flagship football property. No, not Madden - the real football, EA Sports FC 24. It's a good way to discover some new music and a little distraction to the background sounds of my work day. 

This year's playlist is 85 tracks long and criss crosses multiple genres of major label superstars and indie artists. The Rolling Stones, Major Lazer, Kendrick Lamar and more represent a lineup with multi-diamond and multi-platinum records; won awards from BET, MOBO, MTV Europe, Q, Grammy's, and Latin Grammy's; as well as breakout stars and previously unreleased tracks.  

EA Sports FC 24 releases September 29th, 2023 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Early access through the Ultimate Edition opens a week early, on September 22nd. Check out the playlist below. 

Hammerwatch II, is the game where you, "Gather your heroes and journey beyond the dungeons of Castle Hammerwatch to explore a pixelated world. Aid King Roland’s resistance while helping villagers along the way. Battle beasts, finish off hordes of the undead, and face the forces of evil." has just received its first big update, one of what I hope is many to come. I was one of the few people who really enjoyed Hammerwatch II. I get it’s not for everyone but I understood what it was going for and found myself really digging into the game. I loved that it had moved from taking place in a single castle to a more open approach. I like that it doesn’t hand-hold you through it’s journey either. Well, Modus Games and Crackshell have shared that a massive patch has been applied to Hammerwatch II. Crackshell says the patch addresses many issues that fans have called out. A few of the updates include a new multiplayer mode, instanced loot, and persistent character saves. All quality of life items I, too, found a little annoying. If you are interested in seeing the full patch notes you can head over to Modus Games’ site and read them; while there are not pages and pages of updates I found what they did add to be exactly what people were looking for. Hopefully, this will inspire more to try out a game I found really enjoyable.

Sega held a special "Like a Dragon Direct" today and gave us a full breakdown of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the sequel to Yakuza: Like a Dragon and man this is looking like its going to be the most insane, most fun Yakuza adventure yet. 

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth continues the adventures of Ichiban, now in Hawaii as he embarks on an important mission. This trailer gave us the full breakdown of what to expect in Infinite Wealth with the RPG turned based combat returning from the last entry.

This time however a number of updates have been added including the ability to control and move around party members at will so you can easily position them for environmental attacks and there will be a brand new set of jobs for party members to utilize. All of his party members from Like a Dragon 7 will return along with new ones including Kiryu Kazama, Seong-Hui, Tomizawa and Chitose. 

Of course when it comes to Yakuza games everyone expects tons of mini games and Infinite Wealth looks like it's going to have an absolutely ridiculous amount of them. Returning favorites like Karaoke, Mahjong and the batting cages return along with new ones including Crazy Delivery, Sujimon Battles, Miss Match and more. 

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth launches On January 26th 2024 for PS4, PS5, Series X and PC.

Remember Paragon? The Epic Games developed third person MOBA from years ago that you probably played, if only for a match or two? Well, it has been revived by Korean team Netmarble Corporation as Paragon: The Overprime, and it’s hosting a closed beta test right now on PlayStation 5. The beta is running through September 25^th and features 36 playable characters, the Red Moon event, which is a new 5v5 solo lane mode that randomly selects characters for each player. Paragon: The Overprime supports several PS5-specific features, including adaptive triggers, haptic feedback, and the ability to launch matches through Activity Cards.

I tried out the beta recently because I have a soft spot for the original game, and I have to say, I had a good time with it. What started as me jumping in for just 15 or 20-minutes to check it out turned into an hour-plus long session. If you want to check it out for yourself, you can request a beta code through the game’s website.