Helldivers 2 tackles grief kicking in its massive August update: if you get kicked, you'll be the host of a new session with all of the team's loot intact - games news - NewsLocker (2024)

A new Helldivers 2 update is making changes to counteract the ongoing issue of "grief kicking" in the third-person shooter.Arrowhead just announced Helldivers 2's huge Escalation of Freedom update, boasting new enemies, mission objectives, a higher difficulty level, and more, and it's out next month on August 6. Alongside that update is a quality-of-life change specifically intended to counter "grief kicking."Katherine Baskin, social media and community manager at Arrowhead, writes on the PlaySt

GTA 4 tech lead left Rockstar because he thought the series was getting "too dark, too depressing almost"

Grand Theft Auto 4 was somewhat of a departure for the series that always made fun of American culture with a satirical wink, and its increasingly serious tone was actually the reason its technical director left the studio.Obbe Vermeij, Rockstar Games’ former technical director during GTA 4's development, mused that the series' first 3D trilogy from GTA 3 to San Andreas "were just tons of fun," but that all changed when Niko Bellic landed on Vice City's shores."I really enjoyed them," he s

If the RPG ever gets a sequel, the actor behind Baldur's Gate 3's Raphael would "find it hard to say no" to returning: "If he is Larian's creation, he's also mine"

Most of us killed Raphael in the House of Hope, but the BAFTA-award winning Baldur's Gate 3 actor who brought the character to life would "love to play him again"."Well, it would be very difficult saying no," Andrew Wincott tells GamesRadar+ in an interview, speaking theoretically, if he would return to play Raphael in an eventual Baldur's Gate 4. "I think I'm right in saying he is not part of the D&D world, he's something that Larian created. Mephistopheles is his father isn't he? But if he

Months after Xbot shut down lean teams, Microsoft reportedly forms a "smaller" studio to create AA games based on Blizzard IP

Microsoft and Activision are reportedly forming a new team under the Blizzard umbrella to work on smaller games based on its popular series.Before absorbing the publisher in an arduous acquisition, Microsoft Gaming President Phil Spencer previously said he wanted to chat with Activision Blizzard about "what could happen" with the company's "back catalog" post-buyout. As soon as the deal was finally done and dusted, Spencer didn't spare a second to publicly joke about a dormant magical FPS' retur

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Life is Strange Double Exposure confirms Max became a major Final Fantasy 7 stan with some adorable crossover outfits locked behind the $80 Ultimate Edition

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is reaching into the past to catch up with the original game's Max Caulfield, years after she first discovered her time-wrangling powers. What's happened in the years since? She's become a major Final Fantasy fan, that's for sure.Max is one of those Final Fantasy fans who freak out over anything Final Fantasy 7, specifically, probably because other Final Fantasies are Tifa-less. She might have casually enjoyed some of the others, but not in a 'I must cosplay a Mo

Years before Baldur's Gate 3 blew everyone away, Larian's CEO nearly quit the industry over publisher pressure on the Divinity series

An avalanche of awards and even more money put Larian Studios on steady ground post-Baldur's Gate 3, but the company's lead and founder almost quit the industry after publishers interfered with the developer's previous output.In an interview with PC Gamer, Larian CEO and Baldur's Gate 3 director Swen Vincke reminisced about the studio's previous RPG projects that paved the way for its eventual record-breaking success last year, recalling arguably the team's lowest point with 2009's Divinity 2: E

Xbox officially delays Obsidian's Avowed to February "to give players' backlogs some breathing room"

Xbox has announced an Avowed delay that pushes Obsidian's action-RPG to February 18, 2025.A report from The Verge's Tom Warren surfaced this week claiming Avowed was being delayed to early 2025 to give the game, in Warren's words, some "breathing room" from what Xbox saw as an already busy Game Pass release calendar this Holiday season. Notably, the Xbox announcement uses very similar phrasing."So many games coming!" reads a tweet from the official Xbox Twitter account. "As such, we're moving Av

A new Darksiders game is coming, and after a Zelda-style adventure, a loot-driven ARPG, a Soulslike, and a Diablo-esque hack-and-slash, nobody knows what to expect

It's official: a new Darksiders game is on the way. Series fans are already celebrating, but the announcement teaser was so vague that nobody is quite sure what to expect.You can check out the teaser video below, or just enjoy the description that publisher THQ Nordic provided to the Xbox Wire blog: "The foreboding rumble of caverns eons old. Embers swirl through the air, cast up from pools of bubbling lava. Three enormous heads, hewn from otherworldly stone suddenly burst into life with mystica

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Nintendo wasn't brave enough to put lesbian fox girls in Super Mario Bros. 3, so this new Japan-inspired platformer has taken matters into its own hands

If you played Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World back in the day and thought to yourself, "Hey, this is great and all, but it would be better with queer fox girls in it," boy have I got incredibly specific good news for you. Steam just got Kitsune Tails, a Mario-inspired platformer featuring fox girls who will be remembered as good friends by historians.Kitsune Tails looks about as close to Super Mario Bros. 3 as you can feasibly get without risking a letter from Nintendo's legal team. It'

Helldivers 2 is now straight-up threatening players with a new Stratagem they've avoided for months: Kill 1.5 billion enemies ASAP or you get the mines

Helldivers 2 players have spent the bulk of the year dodging every chance they've had to unlock the MD-17 Anti-Tank Mine Stratagem, and it seems ol' Game Master Joel has had enough. The game's latest Major Order is making a threat: complete it or you're getting saddled with those mines."High Command has ordered an Efficacy Review of the currently available Mine Stratagems," as the Major Order, which the devs posted to Twitter, explains. "The Helldivers are ordered to kill or dismantle the target

25 years later, Hugh Jackman shares his emotional X-Men reunion with Ke Huy Quan

Deadpool and Wolverine star Hugh Jackman has shared a heartwarming post about fellow Ke Huy Quan and we're not crying, you are."One of the many cool things about the movie being released is that so many cool things are happening that are making me appreciate the 25 years I've been playing Wolverine. So the other day on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at the induction ceremony for Kevin Feige, I saw Ke Huy Quan," Jackman said in a video he shared on Twitter."Of course, he won an Oscar recently.

Larian boss says the Baldur's Gate 3 approach would "scare" shareholders and publishers: "You will try to box it, you will try to control it, which is the exact opposite of what we want"

Larian doesn't reckon its approach to Baldur's Gate 3 game design would be a huge hit with shareholders and publishers.Despite its scale and massive success, Baldur's Gate 3 is an RPG made by an independent developer that isn't beholden to publisher nor shareholders. Although it has investors, including China-based tech giant Tencent, it's generally understood that the development team operates independently from them. In short, they get to do what they want.In a new interview with PC Gamer&nbsp

The final battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin gives Norman Osborn the perfect ending

Writer Zeb Wells is heading into his final arc on Amazing Spider-Man, but for his penultimate trick, he gives the saga of Norman Osborn a surprising finale that is exactly what the Green Goblin deserves.The saga of Norman Osborn's reform has been going on for some time, with his "sins," embodied in his Green Goblin persona, having been drained from his body and a kinda 'good guy' Norman left in his place.In Amazing Spider-Man #54, Norman Osborn's "sins" are finally reckoned with, and Peter Parke

Destiny 2 reportedly moving away from annual expansions after The Final Shape amid declining sales, Bungie apparently planning more Into the Light-style free updates

On the heels of seismic layoffs at Bungie and rumors of "the next Destiny" going back on the shelf as the studio reallocates development resources, Bloomberg reports that the very nature of Destiny 2 content is due for big changes with Bungie moving away from the annual release model that's kept the MMO afloat for years.Citing 10 current and former Bungie employees, Bloomberg reports that a Bungie leader recently held a meeting to explain that, with expansion sales declining year over year

Deadpool and Wolverine’s incredible opening song was in an X-Men movie with Hugh Jackman over 20 years ago

Warning: Mild spoilers for Deadpool and Wolverine ahead!Deadpool and Wolverine is filled to the brim with various Easter eggs, references, and cameos – but there's one you might have missed.In the film's opening scene, Deadpool slaughters a bunch of TVA agents to NSYNC's 2000 smash hit "Bye Bye Bye." The epic – and unexpected – opening features dancer Nick Pauley in the suit throwing down the classic music video choreography while Ryan Reynolds is in the suit snapping necks and

After 12 years, legendary visual novel Katawa Shoujo is coming to Steam in a "modified" SFW version for those who want it

The acclaimed visual novel Katawa Shoujo, originally released in 2012, is coming to Steam and Itch for the first time on August 16.From developer and publisher Four Leaf Studios, the free-to-play visual novel takes place in modern Japan at the fictional Yamaku High School for disabled children, where Hisao Nakai is forced to relocate after being diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. Here he meets five girls who each present a separate branching storyline and timeline in which romance blossom

The Umbrella Academy actor praises the "funny and talented" Last Of Us star Nick Offerman as he joins the final season of the hit Netflix show

The upcoming final season of The Umbrella Academy features some exciting new additions to the cast in the form of Parks and Recreation's Nick Offerman and Will & Grace's Megan Mullally. However, even though we are very close to the season's release on August 8, their roles are still under wraps.But that hasn't stopped Justin H. Min (who plays Ben) from waxing lyrical about working with them. "They're so funny, they're so talented; they were game for anything," Min says, speaking to Gam

Elliot Page teases how the characters are "trying to rebuild their lives" in The Umbrella Academy season 4

Netflix's hit sci-fi show The Umbrella Academy is nearing an end, with the fourth and final season streaming from August 8. The show follows seven super-powered adoptive siblings born to women who weren't pregnant before giving birth. The group face world-ending threats while having to navigate their often dysfunctional relationships with each other.Speaking of dysfunction, Elliot Page (who plays Viktor, one of the siblings) has teased how the characters feel about each other at the start

Umbrella Academy star teases how the threat in the final season is different from what has come before

The dysfunctional family of former superheroes is back for one final season on August 8 as The Umbrella Academy returns to our screens. While the ending of season 3 found the heroes in a dimension in which they have no powers, that doesn't mean they won't have to step up again in the show's last episodes.The series' cast are tight-lipped about any possible spoilers, but Luther actor Tom Hopper has shared how season 4's threat is different from many The Umbrella Academy have faced before.&n

After 10 years, Ubisoft's always-online racing game The Crew has snowballed into a massive consumer rights campaign that's now looking for 1 million EU signatures

Earlier this year, Ubisoft shut down the servers for 2014's The Crew, rendering the always-online racing game completely unplayable, even to users who own it. In the wake of that shutdown, a massive consumer rights campaign got underway to stop publishers from "destroying" their games, and the next step is an effort to gather 1 million signatures in an effort to change EU law.The Stop Killing Games initiative, spearheaded by YouTuber Ross Scott, is an international campaign to contact lawmakers

One of Deadpool and Wolverine’s most surprising cameo actors calls their appearance a "dream come true" as they share behind-the-scenes pic

Spoilers for Deadpool and Wolverine ahead!Deadpool and Wolverine has a plethora of surprising cameos – and Chris Evans makes arguably one of the coolest cameos in the entire film."Thank you to Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and Shawn Levy for letting me be a part of such an incredible movie!" Evans wrote on his Instagram story alongside a behind-the-scenes photo of the four on set (via Variety). "They’re three of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. Special thank you to Ryan for mak

The scrapped Baldur's Gate 3 add-on was playable when Larian canned it, and director Swen Vincke has some salt for the wound: "It's something you all would have liked"

The canceled Baldur's Gate 3 DLC was playable when Larian canned it, and as if that weren't bad enough, director Swen Vincke says he knows we would've liked it.Speaking to PC Gamer, Vincke says that because Larian was hot off having finished the base game, it "actually went pretty fast" when it came to making the expansion. "The production machine was still warm," Vincke explains. "You could already play stuff." That stuff, he says, was "something that you all would have liked, I think. I'm sure

Baldur's Gate 3 dev shares Larian boss Swen Vincke's response to the RPG's explosive launch: 'You know what this means? It means we get to do it again'

After Larian metaphorically, and quite possibly literally, wiped up the champagne and vacuumed the confetti after celebrating Baldur's Gate 3's long-awaited full release, studio boss Swen Vincke joined writing director Adam Smith around a monitor to watch the RPG's Steam numbers rocket into the stratosphere. Vincke's response to the game's surprising success was simple: "We get to do it again."This fun little anecdote comes from a new PC Gamer interview with Vincke and Smith, who discussed Baldu

Behold the power of PC gamers: The complete $100 Kingdom Hearts collection jumps 396 ranks in monthly sales chart immediately after coming to Steam

The complete Kingdom Hearts series debuted on Steam in June after more than three years of Epic Game Store exclusivity, and by July it jumped 396 places in the monthly sales ranking chart in the US.Kingdom Hearts: Integrum Masterpiece is the collection that combines 10 Kingdom Hearts games, and it finally came to PC back in 2021 as an Epic Game Store exclusive. In May earlier this year, Square Enix announced the series would be debuting on Steam on June 13, and according to the sales data from N

Valorant lead says CS:GO and Overwatch comparisons are not "fair to other games" or "what Valorant has become"

Riot Games is well aware of the comparisons that people sometimes draw between Valorant and rival shooters CS:GO and Overwatch, but the team believes "that's a surface-level comparison to make."Valorant has been out on PC for four years now, offering players a blend of tactical shooter action with hero shooter-like elements thanks to its playable Agents and their unique abilities. With that description alone, you can see why some would argue that it sits somewhere in the middle of Blizzard and V

As Concord and Marvel Rivals near, Valorant lead isn't worried about launching the tactical FPS on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S as it "scratches a different itch" than hero shooters

Valorant is out now on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, four years after its launch on PC, but despite the recent influx of new and upcoming hero shooters like Marvel Rivals and Concord, Riot Games is confident that its release "scratches a different itch" overall.Speaking to GamesRadar+, Riot Games' director of production and product lead for Valorant, Arnar Hrafn Gylfason, tells us that "we don't think of [Valorant] as a hero shooter," anyway. "At the core, we are a tactical shooter," he says, e

Surprise! Valorant is out now on Xbox Series X/S and PS5 after just 1 week in open beta: "We are so excited to be welcoming this brand new audience"

It's only been one week, but Valorant's console port has left its open beta and is officially out in its full form on both PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in North America, Europe, Brazil, and Japan, so you can dive into the tactical first-person shooter right now.I'm not sure anyone saw this coming quite so soon, but after a limited beta in June followed by the recent open beta, Riot Games is clearly confident that everything is ready to go. Its release has come right alongside the announcement, so I c

Out of things to do in a game? Manor Lords dev has a good idea: "Enjoy other games for a while" and come back "when there's new fun stuff"

If you one day find yourself staring down the tragedy of finishing everything of interest in your new favorite game, just remember this sterling advice from the (mostly) solo developer of city builder hit Manor Lords: "Enjoy other games for a while."Too many games, and too many gamers, set themselves up for failure or disappointment by pursuing endless, repetitive fun over finite, memorable experiences, so it's been encouraging to see more developers openly push back against the "dead game" rhet

World of Warcraft: The War Within's pre-patch wasn't a big hit for the MMO, so Blizzard is changing the 90-minute cooldown event to hit every hour

Blizzard is remedying World of Warcraft: The War Within's incredibly unpopular 90-minute cooldown timer for a pre-patch event, among other changes.The War Within goes live later this month on August 26, but the pre-launch patch featuring the Radiant Echoes event is live right now for all World of Warcraft players to enjoy. Sadly, people aren't vibing with the pre-launch patch event, which is mainly down to the fact that certain boss events were on a 90-minute cooldown timer.This isn't grea

Batman: Caped Crusader has an incredible Superman deep-cut from 80 years ago – and quietly introduces an unexpected Justice League hero

Batman: Caped Crusader has arrived – and hardcore fans of DC Comics are in for a treat.The new animated series, which stars Hamish Linklater as the voice of Bruce Wayne, is largely inspired by the neo-noir Batman stories from the 1940s and 1960s – but features some Easter eggs that span the entire DC Universe. In episode 4, fans were quick to notice a Superman reference that dates all the way back to 1941.Clark Kent made his first animated appearance in 1941, in a series of short fil