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Our weekly news liveblog, with this week's best/bizarrest videogame releases
Live
Image credit: John Hamilton Mortimer/Wikimedia Commons
It's the middle of February, and the games are afoot. This week brings at least one major news event in the shape of a "business update" from Microsoft about "our vision for the future of Xbox", which is widely rumoured to be the announcement that first-party Xbox titles will come to rival consoles. Why is this of interest to us, a PC gaming site? Well, because console gaming can't help but shape the weather for PC gaming; more specifically, Microsoft's alleged multiplatform ambitions seem to reflect the plateauing of Game Pass subscription growth, which has become the cornerstone of the Xbox biz.
If the rumours are true, it's a time of much rejoicing for Switchers and StayPlationers desperate to get their mitts on the likes of Starfield. But of course, the only real winner here is the Maw, that ghastly extra-dimensional monster that hungers to gobble up the entire universe unless we can placate it with regular offerings of videogame news. Here are a few new PC games we're minded to feed to the beast this week: surreal metroidvania Ultros (13th Feb); neoclassical multiplayer puzzler Islands Of Insight (13th Feb); period journo-botherer News Tower (13th Feb); colonial spook-hunting RPG Banishers: Ghosts Of New Eden (13th Feb); bullet hell roguelike Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor (14th Feb); retro Croft trilogy Tomb Raider I-III Remastered (14th Feb); hellish feuding sim Solium Infernum (14th Feb); also-hellish boarding sim Helskate (15th Feb); barmy animal sandbox Goat Simulator 3 (15th Feb); open ocean loot 'em up Skull And Bones (16th Feb).
As ever, you can keep track of this week's news-gatherings and other nonsense in the Maw liveblog below. Did we miss an important game or announcement? Make haste to the comments to let us know about it.
10:22 am UTC
According to Shannon Liao of Inverse, Microsoft's Phil Spencer held a town hall meeting last week in which he reassured Microsoft employees that the company won't stop making Xbox consoles anytime soon, even if they do start releasing first-party games on other consoles.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
10:18 am UTC
As spotted by PCG, From Software's parent company Kadokawa have dampened hopes of an Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC release in February in their latest earnings call, commenting only that "we are currently working hard on the development of DLC for ELDEN RING but we have not announced a release date at this time".
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
10:09 am UTC
Squidgy farmimg sim Slime Rancher 2 has received a bunch of new gadgets as part of the year's first major update. Here's an overview trailer.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
10:05 am UTC
Former Crytek and Arkane dev Julien Eveillé has announced Threshold, a "short, dark and atmospheric first person exploration game".
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
10:02 am UTC
Here's an interview with David Pierce, senior game designer at Bethesda and a member of the Elder Scrolls 6 team. What does Pierce look for in a videogame story? "Human-scale stakes. The world (maybe even the galaxy) needs my help, but at the end of the day, there has to be something that I can connect with on a personal level."
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
09:57 am UTC
Blizzard have laid out plans for "revitalising" Overwatch 2, and more specifically, "striving to make PvP gameplay more rewarding and fun and providing greater transparency for players in-game" over the course of Season 9 and beyond.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
09:54 am UTC
Helldivers 2 is a popular game, but it's been hit by a fair few technical troubles since launching last week. Here's an update from Arrowhead's CEO and creative director.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
09:27 am UTC
IT IS MONDAY. The creature waxes wroth! FEED IT.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
