Never one to lag behind HSR and ZZZ, Genshin Impact will introduce its own new pink-haired animal-themed girl in Version Luna 6

Plus Mondstadt is expanding yet further north in Genshin Impact's Luna 6 update.

Today’s Genshin Impact Special Program has wrapped up, and it’s brought us some big news about the next major update. Luna 6 is the next phase in the action RPG’s story, titled Song of the Welkin Moon: Rondo - Augured Homecoming.

It’s set to arrive on April 8, bringing with it a tonne of new content, including a big expansion to the original region of Mondstadt.

As part of this new update, Mondstadt’s northern parts expand with new areas. The new Dornman Port is one thing, but the most exciting is the Temple of Space. This floating structure is home to Asmoday fragments, and is made up of different realms inspired by Liyue, Sumeru, and various other civilizations from around Teyvat. Launching with the update is a new mechanic that lets you manipulate the space to reveal hidden paths containing secrets.

If you take the time to explore, you’ll find a lot to there to learn about Asmoday, Ruler of Space. There’s a new boss to take on in the temple, too: Watcher: Fallen Vigil.

The only new character in Luna 6 is Linnea, who continues the current trend within HoYoverse games of focussing heavily on cute pink-haired animal-themed girls. Linnea is a 5-Star Geo Bow user who can really work with parties made up of Lunar-Crystallize characters, with her big gimmick being the ability to turn Hydro-Crystallize reactions into Lunar-Crystallize reactions.

Linnea has a companion, Lumi, who allows her to increase the Lunar-Crystallize damage she deals, while also lowering her enemies’ Geo resistance. Linnea can also deliver either off-field Geo damage or a Lunar-Crystallize reaction hit with her Elemental Skill.

Beyond that, she can heal the party using her Elemental Burst. If you take Linnea with you as you explore, she can help you discover rare animals, thanks to her innate naturalist abilities.

This update will also see Chasca get her first-ever rerun, and you’ll be able to roll for her in the first phase of Event Wishes. The second phase will feature no new characters and instead focus on Nefer and Lauma. There’s going to be another Chronicled Wish banner, this time specifically for Fontaine characters.

You can look forward to a few other new arrivals in Luna 6, including The Nod-Krai Trade Expo, some quality of life updates to Miliastra Wonderland to up the number of players in each lobby, not to mention various other UI changes.

Catch up on the latest Genshin Impact codes before you jump for some freebies.

Stalker 2’s first expansion officially revealed, and it's taking us to the power plant where it all began

Stalker 2’s first add-on isn’t far off, and it may just be the thing to bring you back to post-apocalyptic Chornobyl in 2026.

One of the biggest reveals out of today’s Xbox Partner Preview showcase has been the new Stalker 2 expansion. The developer did tease some sort of announcement ahead of the event, but I don’t think an expansion was on many of our bingo cards.

Cost of Hope is the big news; a new add-on that the developer has wisely decided to reveal fairly close to release. Or, at least, the planned release target.

First off, Cost of Hope is set for release this summer. It’ll arrive on all current platforms simultaneously, meaning PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. The expansion is described as “non-linear”, and it takes place in the heartlands, deeper into the Zone.

The story revolves around a conflict between Duty, and Freedom, two factions whose idea of the what the Zone is and their understanding of its possibilities differ widely. You’ll be playing as protagonist Skif once again, and the expansion’s events will run parallel to the main game.

GSC Game World says Cost of Hope will introduce two new regions, offering dozens of hours of gameplay. We’ll get to actually explore the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant as part of the expansion, alongside the Iron Forest.

Each of the two new regions will have its own hub area, NPCs, quests, activities and stories. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Stalker expansion without some new weapons, and Cost of Hope promises a few - some can even be seen in the trailer.

The developer also confirmed that there’s one other story DLC in the works. Together with Heart of Chornobyl, and Cost of Hope all three will form a trilogy of interconnected stories. More details on Cost of Hope - including a release date - will be revealed sometime in the summer.

Crimson Desert's first patch aims at fixing controls, but it mostly affects mouse and keyboard

The first post-launch patch for Crimson Desert is here, and the list of changes is promising, even if it doesn't go far enough to address some deeper issues.

Crimson Desert has been out for a few days now, and as positive as its been received by many players, the game suffers from several fundamental issues that anyone who’s played it has called out.

Perhaps the loudest one of those has been how the game controls, which is a problem that stems from the complexity of controls themselves, as well as the underlying animations behind many of the actions the player character performs.

In the first case, at least, something is being done.

Developer Pearl Abyss rolled out patch 1.00.03 for Crimson Desert on Monday. The patch is available now on Steam and PlayStation, with Xbox and the Epic Games Store following “at a later time.”

Today’s update follows a letter to players the developer issued on Saturday. The letter generally acknowledged player feedback, but specifically pointed to complaints about the game’s clunky controls as something of a focus for the team.

The action RPG has actually broken its launch peak concurrent player numbers over the weekend, though only by a few thousands more. Its Steam user review rating has also improved over the same period.

This latest update only includes an initial set of fixes, but Pearl Abyss vowed to keep working on addressing all other points of feedback. A highlight in 1.00.03 is the addition of a Storage at Howling Hill Camp, which can be used to store inventory items.

The most important changes, of course, affect how the game controls on keyboard and mouse. Pearl Abyss included several fixes and altered some of the default presets to make the experience less painful when playing the game with a keyboard and mouse.

There are sadly no changes to controllers, but it is something that the developer said we can expect to see in future patches. More improvements for keyboard and mouse setups are in the works, too.

Here are some highlights:

• [General] Improved the response speed of the interaction UI.
• [General] Improved the responsiveness of jump inputs.
• [General] Fixed aiming to target the center of the screen when using a Lantern or while unarmed.
• [General] Improved the Equipment Quick Slot so that re-selecting your current equipment will stow it.
• [General] Improved the responsiveness of the Main Menu UI.
• [General] Fixed an intermittent issue where the Main Menu would not open.
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Improved the responsiveness of character movement controls.
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Added the following shortcuts to open and close certain menus: Inventory: [I]. Skills: [K]. Journal: [J]. Map: [M].
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Fixed an issue where the key guide at the bottom right of the screen would not update when using Guard or Aim.
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Added default control options for Guard/Aim (Side Button 1) and Evade (Side Button 2).
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Changed controls to maintain movement input when using Axiom Force.
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Fixed an issue where duplicate keys could be assigned in Shortcuts and Input Settings.
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Fixed an issue where certain inputs did not function correctly after changing the Shortcuts and Input Settings.

Beyond the control changes, patch 1.00.03 also includes a set of gameplay tweaks, especially when it comes to enemy health and difficulty. It also makes fast travelling more convenient, and brings a few fixes to NPC dialogue. You can read the full change log on Steam.

If you’re deep in Crimson Desert already, we definitely recommend giving our guides a look. We recently added new pages to help you figure out where to socket your Abyss Gear, how to find Contribution Points - and where to spend them, as well as more generally helpful information like how to expand your inventory, and how to reveal the map.

All the hype has already made Crimson Desert one of the biggest launches on Steam this year

We're merely days away from the end of the first quarter of 2026, and Crimson Desert has come in clutch to join the list of big sellers.

Crimson Desert, the open-world action RPG off-shoot from Korean MMO Black Desert Online, has officially launched, nearly six years after it was initially revealed. The game has been building up a lot of momentum over the years, which recently coalesced to turn it into one of 2026’s most anticipated titles.

All of it has been leading up to this moment, and the game appears to have landed smoothly, though not without controversy, as has seemingly become part of its MO.

It has not been 24 hours since Crimson Desert launched on PC and consoles, and it’s already become a big hit. On Steam, one of two stores where the game can be purchased (the other being the Epic Games Store), the game shot to the top of the charts.

The action RPG continued to accumulate more and more players on Steam, peaking at a very respectable 239,045 concurrent players (via SteamDB). Though its success was very much expected, we perhaps didn’t predict its peak would be that high.

Indeed, Crimson Desert has been in Steam’s top 100 global sellers list for six weeks, jumping up six spots to become the number one seller this week just before it launched. As we get closer to the weekend, the numbers could climb even higher.

This peak concurrent puts Crimson Desert in the same league as several of the other major releases of the first quarter of 2026. The top spot continues to belong to Slay the Spire 2, which peaked at a staggering 574,638 concurrent players. It happened just days after the juggernaut Resident Evil Requiem achieved its own 344,214 peak concurrent, which was the year’s highest up until Slay the Spire 2’s release. All three are well ahead of Nioh 3’s 88,045 peak concurrent, and Marathon’s nearly identical peak of 88,337.

Crimson Desert has seen something of a mixed reception by critics. James gave it three stars in our review, saying it “lacks the connective sinew to be truly functional,” which is a common criticism shared by other outlets. Many also lamented the sheer number of systems fighting for player attention, its poorly explained mechanics, and counterintuitive controls.

On Steam, at least, players have similarly been divided, with the current Steam user rating sitting at Mixed, based on 8,728 reviews. Unsurprisingly, most of the negative reactions fall on the clunky controls and the game’s tendency to, as one Steam user put it, “so miserably tries to be everything at once, and fails to be anything at all.”

If you’re just getting started in Crimson Desert yourself, or plan to do so soon, we recommend reading these crucial tips to help orient yourself in the game’s vast world. You should also plan your initial skill unlocks by prioritising these skills to spend your Abyss Artifacts first.

Crimson Desert is a champion bodybuilder of a video game. Its gigantic world bulges with incredible scale, with shining graphical fidelity and a muscular combat system which excels at pulling poses with an undeniably impressive wealth of options.

However, it lacks the connective sinew to be truly functional, with maddening systems and genuinely odd characterisation hinting at grinding joints and an enlarged heart under the hood, ready to pop.

What’s most frustrating, and fascinating, about Crimson Desert is that it could genuinely be one of the best games of the generation, if only it underwent a full revamp of 99% of its narrative content. But, as you can appreciate, that’s quite a big “if only”.

Crimson Desert follows Kliff and the Greymanes, a warrior sect displaced from their homeland of Pailune by the warmongering Black Bears. The Greymanes fight to maintain the influence of their slain king, pushing back the invaders seeking to sweep through the land and subjugate the Paulinese people.

Defeated and thrown into a river by the leader of the Black Bears, Kliff is resurrected by an unknown magic which whisks him into The Void and grants him otherworldly abilities. To take the battle back to the Bears and claim vengeance and a new home, Kliff must reunite the Greymanes within the wider political machinations of the continent, rubbing elbows with counts, coinmasters and courtesans as well as plenty of blackguards and brigands.

So far, so very Game of Thrones-y, complete with c-bombs and rEGioNaL bRiTiSh acCEnTs such as Sean Bean, Scottish and what your cousin sounds like after two semesters at Oxford Brookes (despite the Greymanes supposedly being from the same place).

But the decision to focus on Kliff as a specific main character is doubly strange. Not just because one of the main things Pearl Abyss is known for is Black Desert Online’s intensely detailed character creator, but because he doesn’t do anything in light of that context. As if Pearl Abyss is packing away one of the best toys in its box for basically no reason.

Some of the dialogue is hilariously sparse. In one side quest I played, the NPC just says, “Are you up to the task?”. Kliff replies: “Yes”. And that’s all. That’s all that happens in the exchange.

On top of that the tone of his character is massively incongruent and completely changes from scene to scene. In one he’ll be a stoic badass, catching punches and twisting arms like the Terminator. In the next he’ll be purring like a housecat serving soup to randos who’ve magically appeared to help build a tent.

Speaking of which, stuff that’s supposed to be difficult within Crimson Desert’s world just happens. A key plot thread of the first 20+ hours of the game is reuniting the Greymanes, then a load of them just sort of turn up once you’ve got a camp and say “how do” like it’s nothing. This ironically both flat and uneven storytelling then even strays into stereotypes as another early story beat sees the city of Hernand beset by a predatory band of money-lending goblin merchants called the “Goldleaf” guild. I had my head in my hands.

If that’s not enough, Crimson Desert is also stuffed with baffling UI decisions, including an inventory system which seems designed to simulate the experience of carrying your food home when you don’t want to pay for a carrier bag. Unlike every other game, enemies don’t have a viewable inventory so you need space for everything they’re carrying before you can loot them, but you also can’t see what you’re picking up before it’s added to your bag. Meaning you have to grab every piece of junk before immediately throwing it away.

I think the best example of this is when enemies drop pouches of change which need to be manually opened before they’re added to your cash total. It’s like how billionaires would need to drop the downpayment on a New York apartment for it to be worth their time to pick it up. The effort of opening these bags is simply not worth a palmful of copper.

So I’ve said the story doesn’t make any sense and it’s a chore to play, but also that Crimson Desert could be one of the best games of the generation? What’s up with that?

Well, that owes to the sandbox that Pearl Abyss has created. The scale of the world is unbelievable, genuinely amazing. The first moment that you’re given control, trudging along a twilight-dappled ridge at sunset, is one of the most visually breathtaking scenes in recent memory.

Gliding across ravines on magical wings or galloping on horseback as you explore the high cliffs and yawning valleys across the varied landscape has the epic quality of a grand adventure.

Then there’s the combat, where Kliff has access to an awesome array of styles from chunky sword-and-board action to a spectacular selection of unarmed grappling combos which are so over-the-top within the otherwise quite grounded fantasy setting that you can’t help but fall in love. It’s unassumingly deep once you’ve got the hang of everything you can do, and you come to crave the larger battles where you take on almost Musou-like hordes of enemies as well as the genuinely tough boss battles.

Crimson Desert is obviously inspired by the likes of The Witcher 3 and to an even greater extent Dragon’s Dogma. But I think, particularly in reference to the former, it’s overlooked how key a strong central character is to giving you a place and purpose within the game’s world. Or, like in Dragon’s Dogma, when that character is absent, how reactive systems and supporting characters need to step up to fill the void and create the surprising moments and memories which stick with you past the end of your sprawling journey.

As it stands on release, the best parts of Crimson Desert are buried deep under layers of absurdity.

Heartopia’s next in-game event has been announced, and it’s one you may not have seen coming. Developer XD Games revealed Dreamlight Cinematics Festival, an upcoming limited-time event that celebrates cinema and movie-making.

Dreamlight Cinematics kicks off March 21, and will run through May 1, available across the game’s PC and mobile versions.

Dreamlight Cinematics Festival takes place on Whale Island. And, perhaps as an unofficial Oscars tie-in, it’s all about classic Hollywood filmmaking. Not only that, it also celebrates the aesthetics and industrial design of that era.

All around the game’s world, you’ll be able to find festival-themed collectables, which you can then use to unlock free Time-Limited Exhibition Passes.

If you log in during the event’s runtime, you’ll get the Car Cinema furniture set for free. This cosmetic bundle comes with chairs that are modelled after vintage vehicles, as well as poster display stands with unique movie making-themed decorations.

If you’re looking to spend some money, the Deluxe Festival Pack comes with a large Island Sunset Billboard, which you can place outside your home so everyone knows you spent that money. The same pack also comes with the Popcorn Movie Ticket chat bubble skin, and a 10% bonus to Festival Tokens when you sell stuff at the store.

Regardless of which pack you get, you’ll earn collection points for each, which puts you on the path to unlocking outfits like the Dreamlight Cinematics Festival-specific Modern Show Dandy and Modern Show Belle. There’s also a Cinematic Moments building material set launching with this event.

For now, we have the above reveal trailer to go on, which does offer some idea of what it’s going to look like in-game. Until things kick off on the weekend, you best arm yourself with some Heartopia codes.

For more specialised guides, learn where to find all kinds of fish, all the different locations for each animal’s favourite food, and how to unlock and upgrade hobbies in Heartopia if you never dabbled.

Zenless Zone Zero Version 2.7 brings Angels of Delusion to the battlefield with playable Nangong Yu

Champions Never Fall to the Past indeed, as Zenless Zone Zero prepares for a major update that fans of Angels of Delusion will appreciate.

HoYoverse has delivered another Special Program for the second day running, this time for Zenless Zone Zero. The developer revealed the full details of Version 2.7, subtitled Champions Never Fall to the Past.

This next major update arrives March 24, adding two new Agents, and introducing the Hollow Champion competition.

Most things in Version 2.7 follow on from the Hollow Champion competition, which brings together old friends and familiar faces, as well interesting newcomers. Everyone is in it to win some big rewards and earn glory.

Among the unexpected participants the competition has attracted are the Public Security's Metropolitan Order Division, and even some former Calydon's Sweepers. A big challenge that awaits is Black Wolf Romeul, who’s capable of increasing his Crit Damage Resistance and Interruption Resistance by activating a Corruptive Barrier.

Romeul can also cause enemies to continuously lose HP, but you can beat him by putting together a squad that can deal sustained Anomaly damage, which will break through the barrier quickly.

Our first new arrival in Version 2.7 is Cissia of the Metropolitan Order Division. She is an S-Rank Electric Attack Agent who automatically gains three stacks of Venom when she enters the battle. Each stack deals Electric Damage while also increasing her Crit Rate for a time.

When she runs out of Venom, which will happen, Cissia can generate more stacks by using her EX Special Attack. She can also use her Basic Attack, Serpent's Kiss, to better utilise the new stacks of Venom she generates.

The other new Agent may be the more exciting. Nangong Yu, the captain and lead dancer of the Angels of Delusion, can now be part of your team. Nangong Yu is an S-Rank Ether Stun Agent who can boost her team’s Anomaly Buildup Rate against Stunned enemies.

Being part of an idol group has its perks, because she automatically regenerates Downbeat as time goes on, and even more any time a squad member inflicts an enemy with Anomaly. Nangong Yu can then use Downbeat - after enough has been accumulated - on charged attacks that keep enemies stunned for longer. Her Ultimate triggers Ether Veil: Delusion Reprise, which boosts the entire squad’s Attack.

Returning Agents in Version 2.7 will be Yidhari, the S-Rank Ice Rupture Agent, as well as Seed, the Electric Attack Agent.

Outside of all the very important action in the core story, this chapter also brings new themed events to Lumina Square’s Simmer Hot Pot Restaurant. The Simulated Battle Trial is also getting some love, with updated mechanics and new enemy line-ups.

Catch up on our recently updated Zenless Zone Zero character tier list, and don’t forget to check out these Zenless Zone Zero codes before you jump in for some free stuff.

A new Honkai: Star Rail Special Program has concluded, which means some fresh news about the game’s upcoming major update. Version 4.1, unveiled today as Unraveled for Daybreak, is the action RPG’s next moment, kicking off on March 25.

Unraveled for Daybreak is the next chapter in the ongoing story of Planarcadia, with the Astra Express Crew now invited to a fan fest inspired by their own past journeys. The aptly named Star Rail Fest is ostensibly hosted to allow more of the citizens of Arcadia to experience the Trailblaze.

As everyone’s eyes is fixated on the grand Star Rail Fest, the Phantasmoon Games continue to be in full swing, as does the war with the Supplicants. Star Rail Fest is, however, the big focus of this update, in case it wasn't obvious.

The event is made up of three large-scale zones, each themed around past excursions of the Astral Express. You’ll get to explore the Belobog Zone, Xianzhou Luofu Zone, and Penacony Zone. Later on, you’ll also be able to visit Pearluxe Tower, the headquarters of Pearluxe Corp.

Each area will feature its own attractions, such as the balloon figures of Supreme Guardian Cocolia and the Destruction Engine, the duel against the Lord Ravager Phantylia at Scalegorge Waterscape, and the Pearluxe Tower’s Alloy King Pom-Pom model.

The hot new arrival is bumbling noirish detective Ashveil whom we've met in Version 4.0, and who becomes a playable character with this update. Ashveil is a 5-Star Lightning-Type character, on the Path of The Hunt. You’ll be able to pull for him throughout 4.1's runtime, which is slightly reduced at four weeks instead of the usual six, in order to rebalance the schedule after the extra-long Version 3.8.

In combat, Ashveil is capable of increasing Crit Damage of all allies. He can also mark an enemy as Bait, which reduces the Defence of all enemies on the field so long as this tag holds. If Ashveil uses his Skill on the baited target, he will deal extra Damage and regain Skill Points for the team.

Ashveil can bully that baited target even further by launching Hounding Pursuit. If any of his teammates attacks the Bait, he can further deliver a follow-up attack that gradually accumulates Gluttony for as long as he’s in combat. Gluttony can later be consumed to boost follow-up attack damage.

If he lands a kill, Ashveil continues to deal damage to the next enemy he attacks. That buff is transferred if that enemy is killed. Even in map exploration, Ashveil can be deadly, capable of inflicting Stunned upon enemies within a specific range.

Returning characters this patch will be Hyacine in the first half, and Boothill in the second half. Once again, due to the reduced runtime, their banner reruns will be slightly shorter than normal, at just two weeks each instead of three — so be sure to take that into account if you're planning on pulling for either of them.

Version 4.1 also adds the Wispae War Saga, a new activity where you can practice your leadership skills by commanding different types of Wispae Soldiers in the Graphia Academy. You can upgrade each one, use spell cards to alter their effects, and later face other champions. You ultimately want to play this to unlock new Wispae Companions, not to mention complete the challenges within.

Finally, Version 4.1 marks the start of a new Arcadian Chronicles phase in the Divergent Universe. You’ll be able to use Waypoint Pass cards to explore the different areas. HoYo is also bringing back Planar Fissure and Garden of Plenty with double rewards. And as ever, if you log in for at least seven days after downloading the new patch, you’ll earn 10 premium banner pulls.

Stupid Never Dies, a blazing fast action game from devs behind Devil May Cry and Resident Evil, is funky, spunky and even “slightly spooky”

Stupid Never Dies is the first game from GPTRACK50, a new studio led by long-time Capcom producer, Hiroyuki Kobayashi.

Stupid Never Dies, a new “Blazing Fast” action game from long-time Capcom programmer and producer, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, has dropped its first full trailer, showing off high-octane combo-busting combat and introducing prospective players to its storyline.

Davy, a freshly risen zombie, must dive deep into the dungeons of hell to gather enough Over-Technology to rescue both the human race and, more importantly, the love of his life - or rather death at this point.

It’s the first game from a new studio under NetEase Games, GPTRACK50, which is presided over by the aforementioned Kobayashi and filled with veteran game developers with experience on the likes of Resident Evil, Devil May Cry and Dragon’s Dogma.

The lineage from Devil May Cry is clear in the flashy combo grading system visible in the trailer, but also from the pumping hard rock soundtrack. However, rather than focusing on overtly technical combos and complicated inputs, Stupid Never Dies is apparently prioritising speed, accessibility and adaptability over pure challenge.

“There have been many '“'high-difficulty'”' games in recent years,” Kobayashi told VG247.

“We wanted to differentiate ourselves from that trend. Rather than creating an action game where players overcome difficulty purely through technical skill, we felt it would be more accessible as a new title if players could tackle challenging situations through strategy and character progression.

“For that reason, we chose to design the game as an action RPG where difficulty is overcome through strategic play and growth, rather than through pure mechanical mastery.”

But there still are a lot of mechanics to master in Stupid Never Dies, with Davy able to warp his zombified body to equip giant weapons on both his arms, legs and head, as well as draw on 11 different combat styles which go bump in the night, clearly taking inspiration from classic Universal monsters melded with twisted machinery.

Some embody classic action archetypes like the tanky Golem or magic-wielding Lich, but there’s also a lot of DmC-style aerial combat coming from the flapping Harpy, ravaging Werewolf and world-bending Demon, the latter of which zones enemies with whips and gravity traps.

The full list is:

1. Zombie
2. Werewolf
3. Harpy
4. Golem
5. Vampire
6. Will o’ the Wisp
7. Cyclops
8. Snow Fairy
9. Merfolk
10. Lich
11. Demon

GPTRACK50 says you will also be able to mash the monsters together (pun intended), swapping between styles to enable juggle combos where you launch enemies into the air as the Creature from the Black Lagoon, then drain their health as a Vampire before slamming them back down to the ground as a bone-crunching Skeleton.

“With the combination of ‘Styles’ and ‘Over-Technology equipment’ there is a wide variety of possible setups,” Kobayashi explained. “We designed the system so that players can discover combinations that best fit their own playstyle and approach to the game, which we believe will make the experience more enjoyable.

“This title is not a horror game in terms of genre. However, since the protagonist is a zombie, the story features a cast of unique companions, and the enemies are a newly designed army of monsters, there are some elements that could be perceived as 'horror'.

“That said, it would be more accurate to describe the overall tone as ‘fun with a slightly spooky edge’.”

Davy doesn’t crawl through the dungeon so much as sprint. The core loop of Stupid Never Dies is similar to a roguelike, as you smash through floors as quickly as possible with a set time limit, upgrading your strength and health, gathering equipment and combat styles and generally getting stronger and stronger so that you can smash through more levels on your next run.

This is where GPTRACK50’s idea of “Blazing Fast Growth” comes from. That Davy can progressively grow more and more powerful until what used to take minutes flashes past in seconds.

“We chose to design the game as a time-limited action experience because players today often have busy schedules,” Kobayashi said.

“We wanted to create a format that can be enjoyed in short, well-defined play sessions. At the same time, we wanted players to experience the thrill and tension of enjoying action gameplay within a time limit — that sense of suspense and excitement.”

In terms of when and where you can actually play Stupid Never Dies, GPTRACK50 has said it’s applied the blazing fast ethos to game development as well, with the freshman studio aiming for a 2026 release.

Apparently due to development resources PlayStation and PC are the current target platforms (with Steam Deck compatibility being considered), with Xbox and Switch a possibility but not yet fully decided.

Battlefield Studios has announced that Battlefield 6 is going free to play for one week next week. Well, a portion of the game is, anyway, as part of a free trial that will include some of the game’s most popular modes and maps.

Though it does not encompass the entirety of the game, the free trial is fairly generous. Here’s what to expect.

For starters, the trial kicks off Tuesday, March 17 and will run until the following Tuesday, March 24. The trial will be accessible from Battlefield Redsec, the already free-to-play portion of the game.

Once downloaded, you’ll find a new Battlefield 6 Free Trial section in the main menu. Because Redsec and Battlefield 6 multiplayer share progression, if you played the former at any point, you’ll be able to pick up from where you left off.

The same is also true the other way around; if this is your first time with Battlefield 6, all your unlocks will carry over to the full version, as well as to Redsec if you decide stick with the free-to-play off-shoot.

Once it kicks off, you’ll find three playlists to choose from. Casual Breakthrough, All-out Warfare, and a third playlist showcasing the new Nightfall game mode and its associated map.

All-out Warfare is what you come to Battlefield for, and that playlist features Conquest, Breakthrough, as well as BF6’s newcomer Escalation - all large-scale, combined arms game modes. They will be playable across four maps. You get to play on two from Season 2: Contaminated, and Hagental Base, one from Season 1: Eastwood, and Mirak Valley from the base game.

Casual Breakthrough is based on a playlist that already exists in the core game, and it’s really designed as a nice on-ramp for new players. It also offers less intense gameplay, perfect for people grinding unlocks.

Casual Breakthrough is limited to just 16 real players (eight per team), with the rest filled up with bots. You earn the same amount of XP in those matches, except when you interact with bots, so killing a bot will net less than a human player. Outside of that, unlocks, Challenges and all other things that don’t depend on stat-tracking can be done within.

In the trial, the Casual Breakthrough playlist includes Hagental Base, Contaminated, and Eastwood.

The most interesting is the third playlist, in part because its content will also be available to owners of the full game for the first time right alongside free-to-play players. Nightfall is a playlist exclusive to the Hagental Base map.

This is a very small map, so the mode selection here is Team Deathmatch, Squad Deathmatch, and Domination. Under Nightfall conditions, lights across the entire map are turned off, so you’re going to have use your NVGs to be able to see. This is also a god opportunity to try out weapon attachments that specifically work under low-light conditions, which typically don’t get much use in multiplayer.

March 17 also marks the launch of the second stage of Battlefield 6’s Season 2, which comes with the aforementioned Nightfall content, as well as a big new update - so the timing works out nicely for everyone.

Crimson Desert PC specs don't keep resolution and framerate targets a secret, and they don't use upscaling for everything either

Finally, a PC specification list that actually indicates resolution and framerate targets, and doesn't leave console players behind.

Crimson Desert is a little over one week away from release, and developer Pearl Abyss has delivered the official, final list of specs for the game. The twist is that the specs not only include useful information for PC players, they also cover similarly relevant details for console players, who traditionally don’t get mentioned in those reveals.

The specs are decently detailed, but more surprisingly - except for a single instance - they don’t include upscaling on PC, another thing games have gotten too comfortable using, even with their lowest specs.

On the official Crimson Desert website, developer Pearl Abyss has delivered a chunky post breaking down five different sets of PC requirements for the upcoming open-world action RPG. Each set indicates the graphics preset being used - and crucially, the resolution and framerate targets you can expect with each.

With the exception of the Minimum spec, all other presets do not appear to rely on upscaling of any kind. They do not say, however, whether ray tracing is being used with any of them, which is a feature that will throw all of those specs out of whack.

Crimson Desert PC specs

Minimum

• Graphics Preset: Minimum.
• Performance Specs: Upscaled 1080p (from 900p) at 30fps.
• GPU: AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060.
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, Intel i5-8500.
• RAM: 16GB.
• OS: Windows 10 64-bit 22H2 or newer.
• Storage: 150GB, SSD required.

Low

• Graphics Preset: Low.
• Performance Specs: 1080p at 30fps.
• GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660.
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, Intel i5-8500.
• RAM: 16GB.
• OS: Windows 10 64-bit 22H2 or newer.
• Storage: 150GB, SSD required.

Recommended

• Graphics Preset: Medium.
• Performance Specs: 1080p at 60fps, or 4K at 60fps.
• GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080.
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600, Intel i5-11600K.
• RAM: 16GB.
• OS: Windows 10 64-bit 22H2 or newer.
• Storage: 150GB, SSD required.

High

• Graphics Preset: High.
• Performance Specs: 1440p at 60fps.
• GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070.
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600X, Intel i5-12600K.
• RAM: 16GB.
• OS: Windows 10 64-bit 22H2 or newer.
• Storage: 150GB, SSD required.

Ultra

• Graphics Preset: Ultra.
• Performance Specs: 4K at 60fps.
• GPU: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti.
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, Intel i5-13600K.
• RAM: 16GB.
• OS: Windows 10 64-bit 22H2 or newer.
• Storage: 150GB, SSD required.

That same transparency also extends to non-PC platforms, which traditionally get few, if any, details about their own resolution and framerate targets. The console set of specs are extensive, just like PC, covering both PlayStation, and Xbox.

It’s granular enough to indicate which upscaling tech is being used, where applicable. This is relevant for owners of a PS5 Pro, a console that has access to Sony’s PSSR upscaling, alongside the standard AMD FSR tech the base console - and Xbox - use.

The developer has also revealed the base resolution for each mode across each console, and the resolution the image will be upscaled to using whichever tech is being utilised.

And, if you’re one of the five people who play games on Mac, you’ll be thrilled to know that the specs also include a section for Mac devices, split between the different Mac chips. The quality preset being used with each is not clear, however.

Finally, there's a set of specs for the Rog Xbox Ally, covering both the X and S models.

Crimson Desert arrives March 20 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. You can expect more coverage from us at release and beyond.

The Sims 4 will soon get a new update to resolve a number of issues, some of which have long caused headaches for players. The latest update will arrive March 17 on PC and Mac, followed by PlayStation and Xbox at an unspecified time later.

Outside of the fixes themselves, the patch also makes good on the recent re-commitment to continue improving quality of life for players, so there’s plenty here longtime players will appreciate.

In the latest episode of The Sims 4’s Laundry List blog series, where the developer goes through the most reported problems with the game and how it plans to solve them, we got a rundown of what to expect from next week’s patch.

You can look forward to five major fixes in this one, but arguably the most important is a change to how Sims determine who they speak with on a lot. This is especially relevant for public lots, where Sims would sometimes interrupt ongoing conversations by barging in and starting a conversation with your Sim.

Going forward, Sims will prioritise familiar Sims with whom they already have rapport, and be less likely to latch onto strangers. If you’ve witnessed a date your Sim was on get interrupted because of that, you’ll certainly appreciate the change.

Speaking of budding romance, Prom is coming back to in-game Calendars, and Sims can once again attend. Maxis said this will work with new and existing saves, and that you should also expect Prom goals to be completable once again.

Pets and animals get some love in this patch, too. First, pets and horses will no longer get lost in Premade Households. The fix prevents that from happening in new saves, but if you already had that happen to you in your current save, it’ll still be there.

You may now also assign animals to an Animal Shed after moving your house to a new lot, so you hopefully won’t be confused as to why they’re stuck in your inventory. This fix applies to existing saves as well as new ones.

Lower down the list of urgent fixes is an update that makes it so Sims’ eye blinking will show fully closed eyes for most interactions. The upcoming patch also comes with a host of Sims autonomy fixes, including one that prevents them from excessively flirting with each other.

Catch up on the full list at the link near the top of the page. And, in case you missed it, Maxis recently announced that The Sims 4 will soon get paid mods, something that many in the community are skeptical about.

Nioh 3 patch finally makes summons useful in boss fights, brings free armour for everyone

There's a new Nioh 3 patch out in the wild, and it's one that any player who regularly summons in boss fights will really appreciate.

Team Ninja continues to work on Nioh 3. The developer has been releasing regular updates for the action RPG since its launch in early February. Earlier patches have addressed major bugs like healing item use inconsistencies, and more have arrived since to tackle various balance and loot-related issues.

Today’s patch, version 1.04, is a major one, coming in at well over 1GB. There’s plenty here worth getting excited about, so let’s dig in.

To begin with, this is the patch that adds the promised free armour sets for both Ninja, and Samurai. When Nioh 3 reached one million sales, Team Ninja said it would gift every player the Thunderous set in celebration, and the set’s two variants are now available in-game.

The more interesting side of the patch is, unsurprisingly, its change log. There appears to be a focus on online co-op and AI summons in this one, with various tweaks to the make the process more rewarding, and, in some cases, worthwhile.

The amount of Glory obtained when you complete a mission in multiplayer has been increased, regardless of which player was the host. The other major change mainly affects AI Benevolent Grave summons, making it so bosses will no longer target a single player for almost the entirety of the fight.

While summoning AI helpers has always been useful in Nioh 3, they didn’t always help in boss fights, specifically because the boss tended to focus on the player who summoned them, leaving the AI to run around eating AoE hits before dying.

Patch 1.04 makes a couple of welcome gameplay tweaks to the feel of combat. Ninjutsu, and Onmyo Magic will now hit their targets more consistently in situations where there’s a difference in elevation between the player and the enemy.

In the same vein, you’ll now be able to attack (quick/strong) right after jumping, which removes the pause that previously buffered the attack instead. This could mean even more air combos that don’t specifically require Martial Arts.

You can look forward to a couple of quality of life tweaks in this patch, too, such as the change that allows the game to automatically send any Sudama Soul Cores dropped by merchants to your item box. This happens from the second one onwards, which means you won’t have to pick half a dozen each time you go to sell a batch of items.

Speaking of the item box, the limit of forging materials has been increased for some of them. If you’ve been running Battle Scroll missions and Expeditions for gear, you’ll be happy to know that you can now exit the session from the main menu directly.

There’s plenty more to patch 1.04, including fixes and balance tweaks for several weapons, such as Samurai dual swords, odachi, and more for a few Ninja weapons, too. The patch also brings several bug fixes to the game.

You can read the full set of patch notes on Steam.