State of Play, Switch 2, And More Of The Week's Biggest Gaming News

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We’re starting to get a much clearer look at the 2024 gaming calendar, after the Xbox Developer Direct on January 18 and now Sony’s State of Play event on January 31. The Sony event gave us an in-depth look at Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding sequel, On The Beach, and boy was there a lot going on. We also got a teensy glimpse at his next new project, Physint, which promises to be a return to the espionage genre he pioneered with the Metal Gear series. But a whole bunch of other stuff happened this week too, so let’s crack on with the highlights.

Imane "Pokimane" Anys accepts the Twitch Streamer of the Year award in New York City in 2018.

Updated, 01/31/24, 2:00 p.m. ET: After announcing her departure from Twitch, Imane “Pokimane” Anys posted on X/Twitter that her first-ever YouTube broadcast will occur on February 1 at 12 p.m. PT. - Levi Winslow Read More

Last week, Microsoft laid off 1900 video game workers across its various studios. This included cuts at recently acquired Activision Blizzard. And one employee, before being laid off, used a Blizzard company perk to walk away with nearly 10 years of World of Warcraft subscription codes. - Zack Zwiezen Read More

An image shows DeSantis smiling as Mickey walks away looking sad.

On January 31, a district court in Florida dismissed The Walt Disney Company’s lawsuit against state governor Ron DeSantis. The lawsuit was filed against DeStantis after he and the Florida government took control over a special district last year that contained Disney World. - Zack Zwiezen Read More

When a new console comes out, it’s often a hellish endeavor trying to get one in the first year. So, with the Switch 2 rumored to drop later this year, prospective buyers will be happy to know that Nintendo is reportedly looking to ensure that if you want a Switch successor, you can get one. Most new video game console launches run into supply issues for the first year or so, and that’s how the GameStops of the world get you to throw down a few hundred to be on a waiting list. But the issue was especially bad for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, which both notoriously had shortage issues for over two years after their respective launches. - Kenneth Shepard Read More

During Sony’s State of Play livestream on January 31, the company gave us a look at developer Shift Up’s third-person character action game Stellar Blade, which looks both cool as shit and ridiculous as hell as you beat up robots in a variety of outfits, including a bunny one because Playboy rabbits also need to defend themselves. - Levi Winslow Read More

Junpei, Akihiko, and Makoto talk to a woman on a beach.

Persona 3 Reload is a mostly faithful recreation of the 2006 RPG. There are new social sim elements, new abilities, and a handful of quality-of-life changes, but by and large, it’s the same story about high schoolers killing monsters with the power of friendship. However, after playing through the remake, there’s one major change that feels like a proper modernizing of the story: the removal of an infamous, transphobic exchange between the game’s boy group and a character who appears to be a trans woman. - Kenneth Shepard Read More

Sam Porter Bridges kisses a baby on the forehead.

On January 31, Sony held it’s regular State of Play broadcast to show off upcoming games in its ever-growing library. We got a close look at Rise of Ronin, as well as Stellar Blade, and a few more intriguing titles. So let’s dig into everything we saw at the showcase. - Claire Jackson Read More

A Typical Day On Persona 3 Reload’s Tatsumi Port Island

Atlus’ remake of the 2006 supernatural RPG offers plenty of ways to pass the time

A dark-haired young woman wearing glasses looks serious against a gray background.

Konami dropped plenty of Silent Hill news during the January 2024 State of Play. In addition to a look at Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 remake, it also revealed an entirely new entry in the franchise. The game is called Silent Hill: The Short Message and is available to play for free right now exclusively on PlayStation 5. - Willa Rowe Read More