The Gamer Guide - Issue 14

The Preamble

So, you have stumbled across The Gamer Guide and you are wondering, “Why do I need a guide to gaming?” Well, we will not guide you on how to game, but we will keep you informed as to what the gaming industry has to offer to get you the best gaming experience! Now, the second thing you are probably wondering is, “How did The Gamer Guide start?” Well, it can be a slightly long story. However, the shortened version is that the journey of three Twitch streamers brought them together, and with their passion for gaming, their experiences of streaming, and their love for everything within the world of entertainment… The Gamer Guide was born.

But what exactly is The Gamer Guide? The Gamer Guide is a digital magazine that focuses on everything gaming and streaming. This includes the latest/upcoming releases, reviews on gaming accessories, streaming tips, and even interviews with streamers and industry professionals from across the globe. Our readership is predominantly other gamers and streamers, just like us! We understand that the love and passion for gaming extends far beyond just playing a game, and that is what we are all about!

So, who are the people behind this magazine?

Brandon Sawyer - Content Director

Brandon who goes by the name of Sawyer is the Co Owner & Content Director of The Gamer Guide. Predominantly Sawyer is an Xbox Gamer where he mostly plays his Xbox Series X but also has a Gaming PC, a Nintendo Switch, and even a Playstation 5, with a variety of platforms this gives Sawyer the ability to review the latest games for TGG. Sawyers main gaming love is Gears of war and RPGs because who doesn’t love an adventure or some chainsaw slaying with a cheeky blind fire or wall bounce. Due to Sawyers vast knowledge and background within the industry he came together with Emily to form The Gamer Guide.

Emily Welfare - Creative Director

Emily, also known as CreativeTrashGaming, came together with Sawyer to form the Gamer Guide, bringing her creative knowledge. Her favourite types of games are those with a compelling story, or those that just make her inner Fantasy Nerd go ballistic. She also likes spooky stuff, not just in the gaming realm but in general, and has a podcast with her two sisters where they discuss all things horror. Emily loves to dabble in the art world often, creating digital art pieces and learning new crafts. A graphics designer in her full time job, Emily is an integral part of the team whom designs the entire layout of our magazines from top to bottom!

Jamie Yong - Operations Manager

Jamie joined The Gamer Guide late 2022 as the Operations Manager. With gaming experience in multiple platforms, Jamie’s preferred platform is PC gaming; from aiming down the sights in an FPS to brandishing swords in the world of MMORPGs. Jamie has come on board to bring you content on your favourite creators; from streamers and YouTubers, to cosplayers and artists!

The Gamer Guide's Tabletop Corner baldur’s gate three release date

After three years of being in early access, the well-known studio known as Larian (Devs of Divinity) have finally announced a release date for Baldur’s Gate 3! Despite being in an early access phase for so long, the game is already extremely well liked, with thousands of positive reviews from all over the globe. The game will officially leave Early Access for a full release on August 3rd, 2023. The game was originally set to release at the end of August, but Larian chose to move the date forward for one very specific reason: Starfield. Which we all think is understandable with how anctipated that release is!

The studio have mentioned that the full release will have new content, and the level cap that early access gamers had will be lifted, along with the possibiility of new customisation options for characters. Along with this, they announced online that anyone who owns the game before the 1st of August will receive the deluxe edition of the game upon full release for no extra charge!

As huge Dungeons and Dragons fans (in case that wasn’t obvious already!), we’ve been keeping a very close eye on this game for a while and it looks extremely promising. We will definitely be doing a review of everything once it has been released, so stay tuned for that!

Our wonderful friends over at Crucial hooked up the team with a duo upgrade for gaming on your PC although I’d recommend these for any PC setup and not just gaming. Now what did they supply us? well one of the best SSDs on the market for its price, they also supplied us some powerful DDR4 Pro Ram to match into one bundle. As an avid gamer with extensive experience building and upgrading gaming PCs, I always prioritise maximising overall speed. In my experience, using an SSD in a PC, laptop, or gaming console can significantly improve performance.

Who Are Crucial?

New to the whole world of PC building? Not sure what an SSD is? Well, let us insight you to one of the market leaders Crucial. For 25 years, Crucial has been uniquely able to connect millions of customers to the innovation and technology that Micron has been perfecting for more than four decades. Compatibility tools like Crucial System Scanner have made it easy to connect their customers with the perfect memory (DRAM) and storage (SSDs) for their systems, including their world-record-breaking Crucial Ballistix gaming DRAM, delivering an unparalleled performance edge to power users.

Crucial is in the business of cranking out mainstream drives in big numbers, Crucial is also in the business of making its own SSD technology from top to bottom. Crucial is of course the retail brand of Micron which is one of the world’s great chip manufacturers.

Crucial P5 Plus SSD(Without Heatsink)

So first up we have the Crucial P5 Plus SSD with a storage of up to 2TB this is more than enough for you to power some of those beefy games that require such storage, so much storage in fact thatyou could install Call of duty warzone 10 times! Not that we did or will but you can see where I’m going. Now this specific SSD is engineered for hardcore gamers, professionals and creatives who demand high performance like running off adobe premiere pro, so if you’re planning on dropping in with boys on your new rig or making content we recommend this highly.

The P5 Plus is Built on Microns own leading Advanced 3D NAND and innovative controller technology with PCIe 4.0 NVMe technology, read speeds up to 6,600 MB/S and write speeds up to

5,000 MB/S, not only that this includes cloning and SSD management software for performance optimisation, data security and firmware updates with a 5 year limited warranty, you really can’t go wrong.

This specific SSD is also compatible with PS5s making it the main go to for any PS5 user with currently the ability to get a 2TB SSD for just over £120 and that’s currently the sale price. We tested out this SSD with a bunch of games with load up speeds as little as 3 seconds. We even tested this out with the PS5 and I was loading up games faster than using the manufacturer built in SSD for the PS5 which was a welcomed shock.

Overall

The Crucial P5 Plus is a well-rounded PCIe 4.0 SSD that brings solid performance at a great price. It handles gaming and general productivity with ease thanks to fast read and write speeds and low access latency, and it fares pretty well thermally without a heatsink. That’s a good thing since there isn’t one included. The included Acronis cloning and Crucial management software can help make the move to and the use of the P5 Plus easier. Hardware-level encryption also helps keep your data safe. The P5 Plus isn’t the absolute fastest PCIe 4.0 SSD on the market, but it’s one of the best options for those who don’t want to overspend and still get a quality storage solution. That’s where Crucial has excelled in the past, and it continues to do so going forward. If you need an SSD for a fresh PC build or an upgrade, definitely check this one out.

Crucial P5 Plus SSD(With Heatsink)

Secondly Crucial was kind enough to send us another SSD this time it was a 2TB P5 Plus with Heatsink, what is heatsink you ask? Well a heatsink is a piece of metal that sits on top of a computer chip such as a SSD or CPU and draws power away from components by letting it rise through a series of fins, by themselves heat sinks are passive meaning they have no moving parts. A SSD can be prone to overheating because some of its components do produce heat, without the heatsink the heat generated by the components stay in your SSD which can burn or fry it.

Heatsink is designed to absorb the heat coming from your SSD then disperse the heat away from its components making it a viable option when

picking up hardware. It has the same run/read speeds as without but offers that much needed more protection, i personally would opt for this if you’re are especially putting a SSD into your PS5, with increase over heating happening regularly with the PS5 this is the safe option you could go for and of course your PC you just dropped a fair bit of money on you don’t want a tiny thing like this possibly heat up and fry, slim chance without as Crucial take the best precautions anyways but for piece of mine or if your really unlucky right.

Overall

The Crucial P5 Plus is a well-rounded PCIe 4.0 SSD that brings solid performance at a great price. It handles gaming and general productivity with ease thanks to fast read and write speeds and low access latency, and with a heatsink you have that thermal peace of mind that gives your PC or console additional safety precautions, I personally would however opt for heatsink for console regardless that additional slight increase is much better than losing everything inside.

Crucial Pro 32GB Kit (2x16GB) DDR4-3200 UDIMM

Finally we have the Crucial Pro 32GB Kit (2x16GB) DDR4-3200 UDIMM which is a reliable and high-performance memory upgrade that can significantly enhance your computer’s overall performance. With its DDR4 technology and various frequency options, it offers excellent compatibility and speed for a smooth computing experience. One of the standout features of the Crucial RAM 32GB Kit is its impressive capacity. With two 16GB modules, you get a total of 32GB of RAM, which is ideal for multitasking, resourceintensive applications, and even gaming. This upgrade allows your system to handle more data simultaneously, resulting in improved responsiveness and smoother operations.

The choice of frequency options, including 3200MHz, 2933MHz, or 2666MHz, provides flexibility to match your specific requirements and system compatibility. Higher frequencies, such as 3200MHz, deliver faster data transfer rates, ensuring speedy data access and reduced loading times for applications and files. However, even the lower frequency options still offer noticeable performance improvements compared to standard RAM configurations.

Installation of the Crucial RAM 32GB Kit is straightforward. The modules are designed to be compatible with most modern desktop computers, and the installation process typically involves inserting them into the appropriate memory slots on your motherboard. The kit’s dual-channel configuration ensures optimal performance and better memory bandwidth utilisation. Another advantage of the Crucial RAM 32GB Kit is its reliability. Crucial, a reputable brand in the memory industry, is known for producing high-quality and durable RAM modules. The modules are thoroughly tested to ensure stable performance, compatibility, and longevity. This reliability gives you peace of mind, knowing that your system’s memory is in good hands.

Overall

The Crucial P5 Plus is a well-rounded PCIe 4.0 SSD that brings solid performance at a great price. It handles gaming and general productivity with ease thanks to fast read and write speeds and low access latency, and with a heatsink you have that thermal peace of mind that gives your PC or console additional safety precautions, I personally would however opt for heatsink for console regardless that additional slight increase is much better than losing everything inside.

On that note, If you would like to get a hold of some upgrades to your PC or even your PS5 then head here to pick them up:

Amazon Affiliate Link: https://amzn.to/3CP6D0V

You can also find Crucials website and socials below.

Website: www.crucial.com

Facebook: @CrucialMemory

Twitter: @CrucialMemory

Instagram: @crucial_memory

YouTube: @CrucialMemory

Reviewed by Mr Brandon Sawyer

starfield xbox limited edition controller

Bethesda’s long-awaited sci-fi epic, Starfield, finally arrives on Xbox Game Pass this September. We’ve been chomping at the bit to get our hands on this one and, to make the wait a little bit easier for eager fans. We’ve already got our hands on said controller and we’ve been very impressed with it right from the moment we popped open its dinky little presentation box. Yes, if you quite fancy the look of this one based solely on screenshots from the internet, we can tell you that it looks even better in real life. In fact, this may well be the coolest game-specific Xbox controller we’ve got our hands on so far.

This thing really is just so darn stylish. Of course, it’s going to fully come into its own when the game releases and we can make full use of its various cockpit indicators, such as the throttle, power distribution, scan and mode selection symbols found around its buttons, but even now just holding it is satisfying, and makes us super-buzzed to get blasted into space in September. On the face of the controller you’ve got a white colour scheme with a matte gold hybrid metallic d-pad, clear X, Y, B and A buttons, white menu/screenshot buttons and two grey grippy thumb sticks set into snazzy lacquered red pools. It’s also got two magnificent translucent triggers that allow you to peer into the dramatic, brass-finished workings within. It’s a really nice touch that makes this feel like a proper premium product.

The controller’s Xbox button is set into a lovely swish of Starfield colours that present a visual reminder to us that this game is for all, “For All, Into The Stars”, as the game’s official tagline goes. The main side grips have a light grey finish, and the back of the controller sports a nice Starfield logo set into a dark red background on the battery panel covering. It’s a cracking looking device overall, then, and it also comes with a couple of meaningful upgrades to your standard Xbox controller, with the side grips here made of a rubberized material - compared to the plain plastic of the normal controller - giving it a much nicer and more premium-feeling grip. This upgrade continues in the same vein on the shoulder buttons, where you’ll find that LB and RB have received a nice textured grip finish too. We’re actually pretty delighted with the new rubberized side grips, as we have had some issues in the past with the plastic not really doing much to help when our hands are particularly sweaty, and they do tend to get quite sweaty during intense space-

based dogfights, let’s face it.

Away from the controller’s added grippiness, things are exactly the same as your standard Xbox wireless controller here with the same weight distribution, dimensions and functionality across the board. Of course, there’s a premium to be paid of around about £15 / $20 compared to a wireless controller at its normal price, and with a little shopping around you can widen that price margin to £30 / $30 quite easily. With nothing new beyond the upgraded grips that’s quite an expensive jump, but if you’re into your collectable limited edition controllers...well, we promise this one is going to be one of your favourites so far, it’s just a really nice looking and feeling controller, and we can’t wait to make use of all its cockpit specific indicators when we finally get to dive into the game itself.

One other extra that’s been thrown in here to sweeten the deal, is a Starfield dynamic background for your Xbox Series X|S that’s unlocked as soon as you connect your new controller for the first time. In order to set this as your backdrop, you’ll need to head into the dynamic background settings and then to the Xbox section - not the Games section as this reviewer had mistakenly thought! - where you’ll find your new background waiting for you. We’ll be honest, it’s not a very exciting background, it’s rather dull and a little lifeless overall, but hey, it’s free so we can’t complain too much.

All in all, then, we’re loving this Starfield controller, and we can’t wait to put it through its paces with the game itself. With cool looks and upgraded grips combined it’s now second only to our Xbox Elite Wireless Controller 2 as our favourite way to jump into some sweet Xbox game time. Is it wrong to tuck your controller into bed at night? No. No, we don’t think it is, thank you very much.

NVIDIA announced the GeForce RTX 4070 at a price point of only $599 back in late 2022. The card is based on the 4nm AD104 silicon with 5888 CUDA cores, 184 TMUs, and 64 ROPs with 12GB of GDDR6X memory across a 192-bit memory interface. The best thing about this launch is you are actually going to find a high end graphics card with great performance and very budget friendly. So what do we have for you today? Today we are taking a look at the RTX 4070, the Zotac GeForce RTX 4070 Trinity to be precise.

A huge Special thanks to our great friends over at Zotac for providing us with the GeForce RTX 4070 Trinity Graphics Card to review.

First up lets run the specs between the 4070 and its predecessors the 3070 & 3070Ti...

Unboxing

So at a first glance the ZOTAC GeForce RTX 4070 Trinity Graphics cards comes packaged in a lovely designed retail box, On the front you have the much needed information and main features which come with this specific GPU, on the back it showcases an actual picture of the card and some of the main features.

(All of the imagery you are about to see was taken by The Gamer Guide using a pre already used for review purposes RTX 4070 so there is some wear and tear on these photos).

These fans are part of Zotac’ s IceStorm 2.0 cooling solution. The fans also support FREEZE Fan Stop, which will completely stop the fans when temperatures are low for no-noise operation.

Looking at the card from the side we can see a very large dual heatsink stack. There is one main heatsink over the GPU and PCB and another that extends past the PCB that makes up the rest of the card. These two heatsink stacks are connected by heat pipes. You can also see how the shroud of the card has a sort of aerodynamic design. The shroud of the card extends down the main side of the card and there is a Zotac Gaming logo in the centre, this will light up with RGB lighting when you have your system powered on, Right towards the end of the PCB you’ll find the newer 12VHPWR connector.

This has been standard on all NVIDIA RTX 40 series graphics cards. Flipping the card over we can see that we have a full-coverage metal backplate. The backplate does have the Zotac gaming logo on it, says “Live to Game” and “GeForce RTX” on it. There are also openings towards the end of the card to allow for airflow through the second heatsink on the card.

So inside the box then, well once we open the box up and get everything out we have the graphics card of course, a 2x 8-pin-to-12VHPWR cable, GPU support stand, and the user’s guide. With the RTX 40 Series Zotac has gone with a completely different design of their card than what we’ve seen from them previously. The big change here is that we have rounded edges and a curvier design, Which I personally do quite enjoy. So we have a triple-fan cooling solution with black fans and a dark grey and silver shroud.

Moving over to connections we have the standard three DisplayPort 1.4a and a single HDMI 2.1. On the expansion slot cover you’ll find another Zotac Gaming logo.

Now it does look upside down, but once you have the card installed in your case it will look right. As far as RGB lighting goes on this card the Zotac logo on the side of the card lights up nicely.

1080p Game Testing

First up we decided to see what frames we could get with popular games we had within our steam library, here is a list of all the game benchmarks which were all tested at 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution. All scores are the average FPS (frames per second) recorded.

Cyberpunk 2077

In Cyberpunk 2077 we use the game’s in-game benchmark and have the quality set to “Ultra”, we managed to hit a solid 145 FPS.

Far Cry 6

In Far Cry 6 we selected the “Ultra” preset and run the game’s in-game benchmark, we managed to hit a solid 154 FPS.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

In Shadow of the Tomb Raider we set the graphics preset to “Highest” and run the in-game benchmark, we managed to hit a solid 228 FPS.

Borderlands 3

In Borderlands 3 we run the game using DirectX 12 and use the “Badass” preset, we managed to hit a solid 155 FPS.

Watch Dogs: Legion

In Watch Dogs: Legion we are going to use the game’s in-game benchmark and we have the quality preset set to “Ultra”, we managed to hit a solid 126 FPS.

1440p Game Testing

Up next we have our 1440p game benchmarks, All of these will run and be tested at 1440p (2560 x 1440) resolution, All scores are the average FPS (frames per second) recorded, we used the same games again to be able to compare the FPS.

Cyberpunk 2077

In Cyberpunk 2077 we use the game’s in-game benchmark and have the quality set to “Ultra”, we managed to hit a solid 92 FPS.

Far Cry 6

In Far Cry 6 we selected the “Ultra” preset and run the game’s in-game benchmark, we managed to hit a solid 134 FPS

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

In Shadow of the Tomb Raider we set the graphics preset to “Highest” and run the in-game benchmark, we managed to hit a solid 164 FPS.

Borderlands 3

In Borderlands 3 we run the game using DirectX 12 and use the “Badass” preset, we managed to hit a solid 153 FPS.

Watch Dogs: Legion

In Watch Dogs: Legion we are going to use the game’s in-game benchmark and we have the quality preset set to “Ultra”, we managed to hit a solid 97 FPS.

4K Game Testing

Next up we have our 4K game benchmarks, These were tested at 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution, All scores here are the average FPS (frames per second) recorded, we used the same games again to be able to compare the FPS.

Cyberpunk

2077

In Cyberpunk 2077 we use the game’s in-game benchmark and have the quality set to “Ultra”, we managed to hit a solid 36 FPS.

Far Cry 6

In Far Cry 6 we selected the “Ultra” preset and run the game’s in-game benchmark, we managed to hit a solid 75 FPS.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

In Shadow of the Tomb Raider we set the graphics preset to “Highest” and run the in-game benchmark, we managed to hit a solid 85 FPS.

Borderlands 3

In Borderlands 3 we run the game using DirectX 12 and use the “Badass” preset, we managed to hit a solid 60 FPS

Watch Dogs: Legion

In Watch Dogs: Legion we are going to use the game’s in-game benchmark and we have the quality preset set to “Ultra”, we managed to hit a solid 54 FPS.

Ray Tracing & DLSS Testing

The RTX 4070 features 184 4th generation

Tensor cores and 46 3rd generation RT cores. So you will be able to enable things like real-time ray tracing and DLSS, specifically DLSS 3.0. To test this we first decided on testing out Cyberpunk 2077. A great benchmark sat between all of our tests, here is what we found.

In Cyberpunk 2077 we enabled all RTX features and set the quality slider to medium, we hit around 36/37 average steady Frame rate please take into account Non-RTX we were looking at a stead 41/42 FPS.

DLSS is a great technology and one that you should really take advantage of if a game you play supports it. Basically it renders the game at a lower resolution and then up-scales it to the resolution that you are running. The new RTX 40 series takes advantage of DLSS 3.0 very well.

Power Consumption

Now onto a very important subject and that would be the consumption of power, to test this we will be using the total board power reading provided to us by GPU-Z which is favourite to use for this kind of stuff by many other reviewers and or creators, we first ran an idle test on Windows 11 just stabling out on the desktop at around an hour or two we found that it idles at around 6 Watt which if you are running a 850W PSU like us this isn’t a problem whatsoever.

Next we then ran the AIDA64 system stability test with the GPU again at just over an hour mark and this boosted up straight to 180/181 watts but again is normal non overclocked usage and again if you are rocking a 750 or more PSU you will be fine with things like this.

Temperatures

Now no one likes a overheated unit and no one wants their hardware to fry so we need to run a couple of tests two in fact to see what the temperatures are like with the 4070, so first up is an idle test just I the system settings on a windows 11 desktop, here is what we found, The GPU during its Idel sat at around 42C which is quite normal for steady usage. Next we again ran the AIDA64 system stability test duration of just over 1 hour, the load did shoot up at a little reaching 62C which again is pretty normal and safe.

Noise Level

Fans, hardware working, you name it they all produce noise and this alone can be annoying at times so how does this specific GPU run its noise levels? Well let’s see, Noise level is very important in any system you don’t want your GPU sounding like its about to take off now do you, we used a sound metre to measure the noise which was placed around 5 inches from the side of the card, we initially only ran a loads as if we went idle the fans would turn off, the load test is taken by using the AIDA64 system stability test, again a fan favourite to use at around 1 hour we picked up around 44 dBA which wasn’t too noticeable to be honest and is all around a pretty quiet GPU.

Overall

The NVIDIA RTX 4070 is a card I think a lot of gamers have been waiting for, The initial launch of the RTX 40 series saw NVIDIA really pushing performance to the next level, but that also came with much higher prices, I mean the RTX 4080 is a whopping $500 more than what the RTX 3080 launched at! With these prices many could assume we could see the same thing throughout the RTX 40 line, but it seems with the RTX 4070 NVIDIA has calmed things down a little bit, You are getting a 70-class card that performs about the same as the RTX 3080 for $599, which is $100 more than the RTX 3070 launched at, but $100 cheaper than what the RTX 3080 launched at. Although you can buy an RTX 3080 brand new right now for $599.

Looking at pure performance without any NVIDIAspecific features we see this card averaging around 150 – 152 FPS in our game test suite at 1080p and around 107 – 110 FPS at 1440p and that is with the settings completely maxed out, This means this is going to be a great card for gaming at high frame rates at 1080p and you are easily going to get over 100 FPS in most titles at 1440p. 4K is a different story as the narrow memory bus definitely comes into play here. Many games running at maxed out settings will not be able to break 60 FPS here. And this is fine as NVIDIA is not really marketing this card as a 4K card, but rather a 1440p card.

For those wondering how this card stacks up against the RTX 4070 Ti it is about 13% faster at 1080p and 19% faster at 1440p. So for 28% more cost ($799) the RTX 4070 Ti is at best 20% faster than RTX 4070. NVIDIA really seemed to mess

things up with the RTX 4070 Ti, remember they tried to market it to us first as the RTX 4080 12GB at an even higher price. But it does seem odd to have a $200 difference between the RTX 4070 and RTX 4070 Ti.

Now obviously you can’t judge this card just on its raw performance as one of the biggest features of NVIDIA’s RTX 40 series is DLSS 3.0. We have praised DLSS since it was first introduced and as of right now only RTX 40 series cards support DLSS 3.0. When it comes to the Zotac GeForce RTX 4070 Trinity I was pretty impressed. This card has been designed quite well as it not only looks good but does a great job keeping the AD104 chip nice and cool and is not all that loud at all. It is also nice to still get RGB lighting and a full-coverage metal backplate on an MSRP card.

Unlike the RTX 4070 Ti, it appears as if NVIDIA will have a Founders Edition of this card. Also it is expected that every manufacturer will have an MSRP card at the $599 price point. We hope that inventory of these MSRP cards is high as once you get into the higher-end cards you could easily approach the price of an RTX 4070 Ti. I think that at the end of the day this would be a solid choice for a graphics card if you are building a new system or upgrading over something into 10 or 20 series. So what are the Pros and Cons?

Well there isn’t any cons in my eyes and the pros do really stack up with the ability to hit over 144FPS at 1080p, over 100 FPS at 1440p, DLSS 3.0, price is really reasonable, a full metal backplate and of course what we all love some great RGB lighting.

We would love to take this final moment to say YES we approve and YES you should pick up a 4070 for your setup and YES you should pick ZOTAC and their Trinity range as that 4070.

We can’t thank the team at ZOTAC enough for supplying us with this great piece of kit so why not check out their store today and secure one of your very own RTX 4070s, check them out here: https://www.zotac.com/gb/

That’s me Sawyer signing off, thank you for everything ZOTAC and readers. We hope you loved the article and we hope to catch you in the next one!

Which GPU should you choose? On a budget? Whats the difference? Let us tell you.

Regularly topping the Steam hardware survey as the most popular graphics cards, Nvidia’s 60-class products are often the ‘go to’ product for the mainstream gamer, with the green team usually dominating, even when rival products can be just as good or even better. With 60-class, the power of the GeForce brand comes into its own and to be fair, Nvidia has delivered some excellent GPUs. The GTX 1060 is still supremely popular, while last-gen’s RTX 3060 is currently the cheapest GPU you can buy with 12GB of VRAM - an increasingly important spec point. You can think of the RTX 4060 as broadly on par with the old RTX 2070 Super - a $499 product back in 2019 - so it’s generally faster than the 3060, but it does ship with just 8GB of RAM which can and will be a problem the way gaming is going.

Even though the 4060s suggested retail price is actually lower than its predecessor (which you currently can’t buy at retail yet again), the issue being that discounting means RTX 3060 can be a lot cheaper and capable of superior price vs performance ratios in some scenarios while stocks last. The fact is that VRAM is becoming increasingly more important and Nvidia cutting it by a third gen-on-gen is problematic. That’s a shame because the inherent advantages of the Ada Lovelace architecture are all present and correct on the RTX 4060 and in the case of DLSS 3 in particular, we’re seeing gaming feats on this £289/$299 product that nothing else can get close to.

So, to illustrate, we ran Cyberpunk 2077’s RT Overdrive mode which is fully playable at 1080p on the RTX 4060 at 1080p resolution with framerates in the 50-70fps range with a 58fps average. Take a minor hit to quality with the RT Overdrive optimisation mode and that increases frame-rate by 36 percent, keeping you north of 60fps at all times. If this is the future of graphics - as Nvidia

hopes it is - the RTX 4060 democratises that experience. We also ran similar tests with the 3060 at 1080p running at 40-60fps on the same modes which wasn’t much of a difference if anything lower frames on single player open worlds can make the game run much smoother.

The RTX 4060 doesn’t have to just deliver better performance than the competition - it needs to deliver console-level performance too. With the 4060 you’re getting performance broadly in lineor better than, in many cases - the RTX 2070 Super because that’s our current reference point for a console-equivalent GPU in the PC graphics space. Factor out the maxed settings benchmarks, bring in optimised settings and DLSS and what Nvidia reckons is a class-leading 1080p GPU actually transforms into a console-like ‘4K’ performer with again similar finding for the 3060 with just slightly less frames.

The 3584 CUDA cores of the RTX 3060 gives way to just 3072 in its successor, while the 192-bit memory interface drops back to a 128-bit bus, limiting the amount of addressable VRAM the new card could ship with. The 12GB of the RTX 3060 seemed high at launch, but it was the right call at the time when 6GB was the only viable alternative. The choices on a 128-bit interface are 8GB and 16GB - and the need to bring the RTX 4060 in at a reasonable price-point means that 8GB is the only real option which is a shame. Either way, we’re looking spec reductions vs the last-gen product - and that’s never a good thing, especially right now when so many key triple-A PC launches are looking appreciably worse on 8GB cards.

There’s no need for high-end coolers with the 4060 which maxes at just 115W, and power is delivered via one eight-pin PCIe input. Again, no need for any exotic PSU connectors here. Cool, quiet, basic but fully functional with no real downsides. This is pure entry-level and does the job just fine. I’m told that this card operates to reference specs, but per the power consumption tables below, peak power

draw is in the region of 127W based on measurements using Nvidia’s PCAT hardware interposer that sits between the PCIe slot on the motherboard and the GPU. The 3060 12 GB however draws power from 1x 12-pin power connector, with power draw rated at 170 W maximum, more power usage which isn’t overly an issue if you have a decent PSU 600+ and a 12 pin instead of an 8 can benefit your card in longevity.

The efficiency of the RTX 4060 compared to all competitors is simply extraordinary. In our RT tests, the RTX 3060 requires 34 percent and 57 percent more power per frame to match the RTX 4060 in Control and Dying Light 2 respectively. Those numbers increase to 58 percent and 66 percent respectively with the RX 7600, although they predecessors do require more power to match they still manage to match said frames.

In Forza Horizon 5 and Hitman 3, we’re concentrating on rasterised performance on a title that favours the Ada Lovelace architecture (FH5), while IO Interactive’s epic always performs strongly on AMD. RTX 3060 requires 55 percent and 54 percent more power per frame than RTX 4060 in FH5 and Hitman respectively. Those figures shift to 73 percent and 17 percent respectively on RX 7600. The 17 percent score there for Hitman is perhaps more indicative of raster efficiency bearing in mind how well Forza Horizon 5 runs on RTX 40-series. Even so, whichever way you slice it,

the RTX 4060 achieves phenomenal results with a meagre power budget.

With the preliminaries out of the way, it’s time to look at game performance. As usual, for benchmark purposes, we’re using a Core i9 13900K paired with 6000MT/s GSkill DDR5, run off an Asus ROG Maximus Hero Z690 motherboard. This is total overkill for a GPU like this, with optimised settings based on a Core i5 12400F system with 3200MT/s DDR4, which I found to be a good match for the capabilities of the RTX 4060 & 3060 benchmarked in this piece.

Overall with the release of the 4060 the 3060s have now come to retail and or below which works out cheaper than what the 4060 is now, if you are aiming for 1440p casual gaming at 60120fps then the 3060 is the best option to go for, with the 4060 slightly tackling better frames but less VRAM as mentioned this is becoming a must have the way gaming is going, the 3060 having that additional 4GB and cheaper is much recommended for anyone on a budget friendly build, yes the 4060 uses less Watt per frames but it doesn’t necessarily run more frames at a better rate than the 3060, In our opinion you can pick up the 3060 for £250 with 12GB VRAM currently and the 4060 with 8GB VRAM for £300+ so for an additional £50+ if not more when you just want to play Starfield at 30-60FPS with ultra settings at 1080-1440p then the 3060 is for you.

Apple’s WWDC 2023 recap

From its expected AR/VR headset to new Macs to software updates like iOS 17, here’s what Apple unveiled. Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday kicked off with a keynote address showing everything coming to the company’s line-up of devices. WWDC has been typically where the company gives us a first look at new software for iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and Macs. But this year, Apple revealed new hardware, too.

The big announcement was the debut of the Apple Vision Pro, a “new kind of computer” as Tim Cook put it in the presentation. But with MacBook Air and other Mac hardware announcements -- including new silicon -- as well as software upgrades, no corner of Apple’s ecosystem lacked for updates.

Apple Vision Pro, a new headset

The Apple Vision Pro is the company’s answer to the AR and VR headset race. It’s a personal display on your face with all the interface touches you’d expect from Apple, with an operating system that looks like a combination of iOS, MacOS and TVOS. And it’s not going to come cheap: The Apple Vision Pro retails for $3,499 and will start shipping early next year.

The device itself looks like other headsets, though the glass front hides cameras and even a curved OLED outer display (more on why later). The headset is secured to the wearer’s head with a wide rear band (no over-the-top strap), though as rumours suggested, there’s an external battery back that connects over a cable and sits in your pocket. There’s a large Apple Watch-style digital crown on the right side that lets you dial immersion (the outside world) in and out.

The Vision Pro has three-element lenses that enable 4K resolution, though you can swap out lenses, presumably for different vision capabilities. Audio pods are embedded within the band to sit over your ears, and “audio ray tracing” maps sound to your position. A suite of lidar and other sensors on the bottom of the headset track hand and body motions.

Technically speaking, the Vision Pro is a computer, with an M2 chip found on Apple’s highest-end computers. But a new R1 chip processes all

the other headset inputs from 12 cameras, five sensors and six microphones and sends it to the M2 to reduce lag and get new images to displays within 12 milliseconds. The Vision Pro runs the new VisionOS, which uses iOS frameworks, a 3D engine, foveated rendering and other software tricks to make what Apple calls “the first operating system designed from the ground up for spatial computing.”

Interior cameras track your facial motion, which is projected to others when on FaceTime and other video chatting apps.

Apple Vision Pro can scan your face to create a digital 3D avatar.

To keep users from being cut off from the outside world, the Eyesight feature uses inside-pointing cameras and the headset’s outer display to show your eyes -- essentially showing people around you what your eyes are focusing on. If you’ve dialled your immersion all the way on, your eyes will disappear on the outside screen. But you’re not totally cut off. While wearing the headset, if someone approaches you they’ll filter into your vision.

The interface uses hand motions to control the device, though there are also voice controls. It’s tough to tell how these controls will work, and we’d expect that users will need some time to adapt to not using a mouse and keyboard.

This isn’t just an entertainment device. Apple is pitching its first new product in eight years as a work-from-home and travel device, essentially letting you open however many windows you want. It can work in the office as a display for Macs and supports Apple’s Magic Keyboard and Trackpad devices.

The Vision Pro has Apple’s first 3D cameras and can take spatial photos, providing 3D depth with binaural audio to experience moments with more immersion. Of course, this spatial experience is extended to movies that’s “impossible to represent on a 2D screen,” Apple said during its presentation, continually teasing the exclusivity that non-headset wearers won’t even understand without trying out a Vision Pro. Disney CEO Bob Iger took the WWDC stage to vouch for the headset, and followed with a short video showing interactive 3D experiences that Vision Pro users will soon get to experience on the Disney Plus streaming service. Now that Apple has all these new cameras and eye-tracking, it’s introduced a way to secure your data and purchases with Optic ID, which uses your eyes as an optical fingerprint for authentication. Camera data is processed at the system level, so what the headset sees isn’t fed up to the cloud.

New MacBook Air 15

As was rumoured, Apple announced a new MacBook Air 15, a larger version of the MacBook Air 13 that launched last year.

The MacBook Air 15 is powered by an M2 chip and gets up to 18 hours of battery life. Configurations can come with up to 24GB of memory and up to 2TB of storage, retailing for $1,299 to start (or $1,199 with a student discount). The 15-inch model is 11.5mm thick and 3.3 pounds and has two Thunderbolt ports and a Magsafe cable connector -- along with a 3.5mm headphone jack. It has an above-display 1080p camera in a notch, three microphones and six speakers with forcecancelling subwoofers.

Mac Studio with M2

A new Mac Studio has landed and it comes with Apple’s latest silicon. The new model comes with an M2 Max chipset, or the new M2 Ultra chipset -- essentially two M2 Max chips combined, which enables up to 192GB of memory.

The M2 Ultra stole the spotlight with new

capabilities, with a 24-core CPU and streaming 22 videos at 8K ProRes resolution at once. It can support up to six Apple Pro Displays at once. The Mac Studio starts at $1,999 and will be available starting next week.

Mac Pro with M2 Ultra

Apple wasted no time announcing that its new high-end desktop Mac Pro model would get the M2 Ultra as well. The new Mac Pro gets all the M2 Ultra upgrades as the Studio, including support for up to 192GB of RAM.

The Mac Pro has eight thunderbolt ports, two HDMI ports and dual 10GB ethernet ports, with six open PCIe Gen 4 slots. The new Mac Pro comes in both upright tower and horizontal rack orientations. The new Mac Pro starts at $6,999 and is available now.

iOS 17

iOS 17 brings a ton of quality-of-life improvements, and the iOS 17 developer beta is available now to download. Finally, you can use more filters while searching within your Messages. In addition to pressing and holding on messages to reply, you can also simply swipe on specific messages to reply to them, and voice notes will be transcribed. Say goodbye to grey screens when you get calls -- now you can set full-screen photos or Memoji to contacts when they call you. And if someone leaves a voicemail, you can see it transcribed in real time to help you screen calls if you don’t recognize a caller.

A new safety feature, Check In, sends a note to a trusted contact when you reach a location -- like when you make it home safe after late-night travel. If it’s taking you longer to get to a destination, you’ll be prompted to extend the timer rather than alert your contact. It also shares your battery and signal status. Check In is end-to-end encrypted. Last year, Apple introduced an iOS feature to let you copy photo subjects and paste them as stickers -- and now you can do that with video to essentially create GIFs to share with friends or even as responses to Messages. All emoji are now shareable stickers, too.

Airdrop has been a helpful tool to send files between Apple devices, but now you can share your contact info with Name Drop. You can choose what you want to share between email addresses, phone numbers and more.

Also, say goodbye to relying on Notes to jot down your thoughts -- Journal is a new secure app for personal recollections. Apple is pitching it as a gratitude exercise, but iOS will auto-include activities like songs and workouts you’ve done to your personal log.

Apple Maps got an update that Android owners have had for years -- the ability to use Maps offline, especially helpful when you’re outside network range while outdoors or conserving battery.

A new mode, Standby, converts an iPhone to an alarm clock when it’s charging and rotated horizontally. It gets smart interactions like a large visible clock face along with calendar and music controls. Lastly, as was rumoured, you won’t have to say “Hey Siri” anymore. Just saying “Siri” will bring up the voice assistant.

iPadOS 17

iPadOS 17 brings more controls to widgets, which don’t just show more info at a glance -- they have more interactive buttons to let you control your smart home or play music.

iPadOS 17 is bringing more interactive personal data to the Health app, including richer sleep and activity visualisation.

The next iPadOS update brings quality-of-life upgrades like more lock screen customization and multiple timers as well as improvements to the follow you during video calls Stage Manager feature for iPad selfie cameras.

With all the screen space on an iPad, Apple expanded what you can do with PDFs, which can be auto filled and signed from within iPadOS. iPad owners can collaborate in real time while tweaking PDFs, and the files can now be stored in the Notes app.

MacOS Sonoma

MacOS Sonoma, named after one of California’s most famous wine-producing areas, continues the WWDC theme of adding more widget functionality. Sonoma also has some gaming upgrades like a new gaming mode that prioritises CPU and GPU to improve frame rate. Apple is paying attention to immersion with lower latency for wireless controllers and speakers or headsets. The company is also courting developers with game

dev kits and Metal 3. But the biggest gaming announcement is that legendary game creator Hideo Kojima’s opus Death Stranding is coming to Macs later this year. “We are actively working to bring our future titles to Apple platforms,” Kojima said during the WWDC presentation.

On the business side, Mac has improved videoconferencing with an overlay that shows slide controls while you’re presenting. Apple also introduced new reactions -- like ticker-tape falling for congratulations -- that can be triggered with gestures.

Passkey, the end-to-end encrypted password chain tech Apple introduced last year, can now be shared with other contacts, and everyone included can edit and update passwords to be shared with the group. Safari has security updates including locking the browser window when in private browsing mode, and profiles to separate accounts, logins and cookies between work and personal use.

AirPods and audio upgrades

Apple has a handful of improvements to its audio products. AirPods will get Adaptive Audio, which combines noise-cancelling with intelligent audio to drown out annoying background noise while letting through important sounds -- like car horns or bike bells. It’ll also pass through voices in case someone starts a conversation in person.

And it’s far easier to digitally take control of the music with SharePlay while somebody with CarPlay is driving -- a prompt will go out to others in the car asking if they want to take control.

WatchOS 10

Yet again, widgets appear with WatchOS 10, the next operating system upgrade for Apple Watches. Widgets are now accessible in a stack from your home screen -- just use the digital crown to scroll between them.

Apple has focused on cycling this year, improving workouts by showing functional threshold data, an important metric for cyclists. It also connects over Bluetooth to sensors on bikes, and there’s a new full-screen mode for iPhones that allows you to use it as a full screen while cycling. Hikers, rejoice! WatchOS 10 has upgraded its compass with cellular connection waypoints, telling you

which direction to walk and how far you have to go before you can get carrier reception. It also shows SOS waypoint spots and shows elevation view in the 3D compass view. There’s also a neat topographical view.

Apple is also expanding its Mindfulness app to log how you’re feeling in State of Mind, choosing between colour-coded emotional states. You can even access this from your iPhone in case you’re away from your Apple Watch.

Health focuses for 2023

On top of the WatchOS Mindfulness updates, Apple introduced a neutral survey to self-report mood and mental health, which acts as a sort of non-medical way to indicate whether you may

want to get professional help.

On top of the WatchOS Mindfulness updates, Apple introduced a neutral survey to self-report mood and mental health, which acts as a sort of non-medical way to indicate whether you may want to get professional help.

Apple also has a new cross-device Vision Health focus in the Health app, and a new feature on the Apple Watch measures daylight time spent outside to watch for myopia in younger wearers. Screen Distance uses the True Depth camera on iPads to warn people if they’re too close to the screen. So that’s a wrap of everything which was announced during Apple’s June 2023 WWDC Conference, we look forward to seeing more from Apple and their products.

SUMMER GAMES FEST 2023 RECAP

Geoff Keighley took the stage for Summer Game Fest 2023 on June 8 2023 and it was filled with many exciting announcements and game debuts. The show kicks off a week of festivities, during which we get to see many premieres and surprises. If you missed Summer Game Fest do not worry as we have a short recap right here for you which you can see below.

Prince of Persia The Lost Crown

The announcement of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown came as a bit of a surprise. It is currently set to release on January 18, 2024, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, and PC.

Mortal Kombat 1

It was known well in advance that Mortal Kombat 1 would debut its gameplay at Summer Game Fest and it did not disappoint.

Path of Exile 2: Ngamakanui

While everyone is talking about Diablo IV right now, Path of Exile 2 wants to remind everyone that it still exists and is coming soon.

Exoprimal x Street Fighter 6 Collaboration

Who expected robot-mecha Ryu and Guile taking on dinosaurs? In true Capcom fashion, the developer announced an upcoming collaboration between Exoprimal, its upcoming dinosaur objective shooter, and Street Fighter 6.

Sonic Superstars

This might be one of the more exciting Sonic games in years. Sonic Superstars goes back to the traditional 2D format, but with stylish and modern graphics and four-player co-op. Players will get to choose between Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy Rose.

Lies of P

This unique take on Pinocchio now has a new release date of September 19, and players can now check out a demo of the game.

SAND LAND

An interesting announcement, Sand Land comes from Bandai Namco and Akira Toriyama which I must say I am a huge fan of so can’t wait to see more. You’ll have to check out the trailer and draw your own impressions though.

Palworld

Palworld isn’t a new announcement, but we now know it will be entering early access next year. It’s Pokemon with guns, or something. It’s from the same people who made Craftopia.

Throne and Liberty

NCSoft has another MMORPG on the horizon. If you’ve played previous NCSoft games, you might recognize what’s happening in Throne and Liberty. Amazon Games is set to publish this internationally.

The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria

Want some Deep Rock Galactic with a Lord of the Rings skin? That should be Return to Moria, set to release sometime this fall.

Alan Wake 2

We got an extensive look at Alan Wake 2 gameplay which blew us away, the new footage centred around new character Saga Anderson. Alan Wake fans won’t have to wait much longer to experience the sequel which is set to release October 17.

Remnant 2

Another sequel that’s coming soon, Remnant 2 launches July 25 and is one game we can’t wait to play.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 will feature three-player campaign co-op when the game arrives this winter on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. This particular reveal we will be keeping a close eye on as it really did look great but if it plays as good as it looks we shall see.

Yes, Your Grace Snowfall

Yes, Your Grace is getting a sequel titled Yes, Your Grace Snowfall. The game looks to build on the mechanics from the original but set in winter.

Witchfire

Witchfire is set to launch in early access September 20 and the latest trailer gives us a look at some gameplay.

John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando

John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando pays tribute to 1980s action and horror movies. It looks to be another fun zombie shooter, set to arrive next year.

Baldur’s Gate 3

Baldur’s Gate 3 introduces a new character, played by Jason Isaacs. Isaacs is known for playing the role of Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter franchise, and in Baldur’s Gate 3 he’s taking on the role of Lord Enver Gortash.

Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis

Final Fantasy VII’s mobile spinoff, Ever Crisis, is now open for pre-registration and a closed beta is heading to Android.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden

The creators of Vampyr and the original Life is Strange, Dontnod, revealed gameplay for its upcoming title Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden.

Like a Dragon Gaiden

The series formerly known as Yakuza continues to grow with its new entry, Like a Dragon: Gaiden – The Man Who Erased His Name. This spinoff brings back protagonist Kazuma Kiryu which being a Yakuza game fan I welcome this with open arms, the game is due to release on November 9.

Under the Waves Explore the Depths

Under the Waves looks to be heavily inspired by Subnautica in this latest trailer. The game is set to release on August 29.

Fae Farm

These days, we can’t have any sort of major gaming event without a trailer for a farming sim game. The Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing trend continues, with Fae Farm set to release on September 8 on Switch and PC.

Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior World Premiere Trailer

An action RPG with a twist, Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior allows players to rewind time, creating copies of themselves. This game appears to be influenced by Hades and is one to keep an eye on when it releases on PC later this year.

Immortals of Aveum – Official Colossal Assault

The upcoming magical first-person shooter, Immortals of Aveum, has released another extensive gameplay trailer.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Summer Game Fest 2023 Trailer

The show ended with a new trailer for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth which did look pretty damn amazing.

Spider-Man 2 Release date revealed

Let’s not forget we also got a release date for Spider-Man 2 launching October 20, shortly after Insomniac games also announced pre orders will be available from June 16 and those who choose to preorder will receive an early unlock of the Arachknight Suit for Peter with three additional colour variants, an early unlock of the Shadow Spider Suit for Miles with three additional colour variants, an early unlock of the Web Grabber gadget, and three skill points to get started. There will also be a Digital Deluxe and Collector’s Edition for the game. The Digital Deluxe Edition includes 10 unique suits (5 for Peter, 5 for Miles), additional Photo Mode frames and stickers, and two additional skill points.

Finally, the Collector’s Edition includes a voucher for the Digital Deluxe Edition, a Steel book case, and a 19-inch statue featuring the Spider-Men battling Venom. The Collector’s Edition will be available on PlayStation Direct

the future games show summer showcase 2023

The Future Games Show Summer Showcase

Presented by Intel was broadcast live on June 10, 2023. Hosted by Yuri Lowenthal and Laura Bailey (Peter Parker and Mary-Jane Watson from Marvel’s Spider-Man), the Future Games Show delivered over an hour of updates, release dates, and reveals for a selection of exciting upcoming games.

We’ve put together a list of all of the games shown during the show and the accompanying news, so you can follow up with anything that may have caught your attention.

Highwater

The Future Games Show Summer Showcase kicked off with a very special musical introduction. Tamara Jokic and Gilad Barakan appeared on a virtual stage to perform Beyond the Waves from the soundtrack to Demagog Studio’s turn-based action-adventure Highwater. The performance was intercut with scenes from the game, which is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S and Nintendo Switch in Summer 2023.

Resistor

The first world premiere of the night provided a look at Long Way Home’s Resistor, a post-apocalyptic CaR-PG where you build a rag-tag team of racers. Resistor is coming soon to PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch.

Instinction

A gameplay trailer for Hashbane’s tense dino shooter Instinction dropped during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase. Playtests start soon, and you can sign up on the game’s Steam page.

Star Trucker

A world premiere announcement trailer for Star Trucker pulled in for a rest stop at the Future Games Show Summer Showcase. This big rig odyssey blends the tranquil bliss of the truck sim genre with dynamic storytelling and RPG elements… in space. Star Trucker is coming to a galaxy near you in 2024.

Lords of the Fallen

Hexworks brought dark fantasy and demon gods to the Future Games Show Summer Showcase with a meaty developer presentation for Lords of the Fallen. A challenging souls like with colossal boss battles and parallel realms to explore, it’s coming to PC, PlayStation and Xbox on October 13, 2023.

Headbangers: Rhythm Royale

World premiere time! Headbangers: Rhythm Royale is a rhythm-based battle royale game where players (pigeons?) compete in mini-games to become the master headbanger. Headbangers is coming, infectious soundtrack in tow, to PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch in 2023.

The Last Faith

A release date trailer for The Last Faith sliced its way into the schedule at the Future Games Show Summer Showcase. A mix of Metroidvania sensibilities with Soulslike flair, The Last Faith looks like a pixelated take on Bloodborne and is coming to PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch in October 2023.

Steel Seed

Storm in a Teacup founder Carlo Bianchi provided

us with an in-depth look at Steel Seed, the studio’s next game. A sci-fi stealth-action platformer set in the wake of a climate catastrophe, Steel Seed is coming soon to PC, PlayStation and Xbox.

Distant Bloom

A gameplay trailer for Distant Bloom aired during the Future Games Show, showing off the game’s serene management systems as you wield the power of plants to restore the environment of an alien world. Distant Bloom is coming soon to PC.

Go Fight Fantastic

A blend of cinematics and gameplay revealed what players can expect in Go Fight Fantastic, Dinomite Games’ futuristic top-down co-op brawler. Go Fight Fantastic is coming to PC later this year.

En Garde

A tyranny-defying world premiere from the forgotten pages of history… En Garde is a swashbuckling action adventure from Fireplace Games, and it’s coming in the summer of 2023. But if you can’t wait, there’s a demo available on Steam right now!

Alaskan Road Truckers

If you like pit stops and snowy landscapes, this one’s for you! Live the life of a trucker and face up against challenging conditions in Alaskan Road Truckers, which is coming to PC, PlayStation and Xbox in Fall 2023.

The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales

A gorgeous cinematic trailer for The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales debuted during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase, setting up the premise of this eclectic action adventure. Players will dive into a variety of book worlds and attempt to steal historic literary items to restore the protagonist’s ability to write. The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales is coming to PC, PlayStation and Xbox on June 22, and you can play a demo for the game right now on Steam.

Deceit 2

A trailer featuring alpha gameplay of Deceit 2 appeared during this year’s Future Games Show

Summer Showcase. Built from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5. Deceit 2 is coming to PC, PlayStation and Xbox in 2023.

Life by You

Paradox Tectonic’s King Choi dropped by the Future Games Show Summer Showcase to deliver a developer presentation for Life by You, revealing exclusive footage of the barista job. Life by You is launching in Early Access on September 12, 2023.

The VR Showcase

The VR showcase returned after its inaugural showing during the Future Games Show Spring Showcase. This time around, it was, once again, full of VR news delivered by our talented hosts.

• C-Smash VRS lets you play squash in space and is coming to PS VR 2 on June 23, 2023. You can check out a free demo of the game on the PlayStation store.

• MADiSON VR is a psychological thriller centred around developing photos from an instant camera. It’s coming soon to PS VR 2 and Steam VR.

• VR Skater is kickflipping its way onto PS VR 2 headsets in 2023.

• Firewall Ultra is a tactical shooter coming exclusively to PS VR 2 later this year, and First Contact Entertainment delivered a developer presentation for the game during the showcase.

• Wallace and Gromit: The Grand Getaway is a brand-new VR adventure involving the famous Aardman animated duo. The Grand Getaway is coming to Meta Quest in 2023.

Surviving Deponia

Another world premiere! Surviving Deponia is a story-driven survival twist on the cult classic pointand-click series where you’ll build your own base and meet new and old friends. Surviving Deponia is getting an early access release in 2023.

Homeseek

Homeseek is a post-apocalyptic survival strategy game from Traptics in a world where water is the

new gold. A brand new trailer aired during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase, revealing that Homeseek is coming to PC on July 20, 2023.

Laika: Aged Through Blood

Brainwash Gang’s stylish ‘motorvania’ raced onto our screens with a world premiere trailer during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase. This narrative-driven motorbike combat odyssey is coming soon to PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch, with a Steam demo launching on June 19.

Space Gears

During the Future Games Show Summer Showcase, Pentapeak Studios delivered a developer presentation concerning the studio’s upcoming strategy game Space Gears, where you’ll fight to conquer Mars. A demo for the game is launching this month, so you can terra-form your opinion on it very soon.

Layers of Fear

A cinematic launch trailer for Bloober Team’s Layers of Fear debuted during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase. The spine-tingling video set up the premise of the forthcoming psychological horror game, offering creepy scenes of the protagonist jumping between surreal worlds. Layers of Fear has been rebuilt from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5, and it’s launching on PC, Mac, PlayStation and Xbox on June 15.

Enchanted Portals

Play as a pair of rookie magicians on a bullet hell adventure in Enchanted Portals, a co-op 2D platformer from Xixo Games Studio. A new gameplay trailer for Enchanted Portals appeared during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase, revealing how the game will use a variety of animation styles across its tricky levels. Enchanted Portals is coming to PC and consoles later this year.

Shattered Heaven

Interested in a dark fantasy deck building RPG where you’ll explore procedural dungeons and make important narrative choices? Shattered Heaven is out now on PC, and a gameplay trailer debuted during this year’s Summer Showcase.

Moving Out 2

The F.A.R.T Squad are on a recruitment drive! Multiplayer removal mayhem is back on the menu, as Moving Out 2 is coming soon to PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch. To celebrate that fact, Team 17 debuted an awesome cartoon-themed trailer during this year’s Summer Showcase.

Ones To Watch Montage

The Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2023 Ones to Watch Montage featured several exciting upcoming games from a variety of excellent developers.

Featuring:

• Punch Club 2

• Cross Blitz

• Deathground

• Venture to the Vile

• Unrecord

• Odinfall

Warhaven

A new trailer for NEXON’s free-to-play 16v16 fantasy brawler Warhaven appeared during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase. Warhaven is coming to PC in Fall 2023, but you can play it for free during Steam Next Fest, which kicks off on June 19.

SteamWorld Build

The Steamworld universe is expanding once again. Steamworld Build is a city builder from Thunderful where you develop a mining town to dig up lost technology. A new trailer revealed that Steamworld Build is coming to PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox in 2023.

Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle

Daymare 1994 Sandcastle is a stylish survival horror game with plenty of nostalgia for the 90s. A gameplay trailer for Daymare appeared during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase, showing the protagonist freezing and defeating some mutated monsters. Daymare 1994 Sandcastle is coming to PC, PlayStation and Xbox on August 30, 2023.

New Cycle

Chart a future beyond survival in New Cycle, a city builder set in the aftermath of a devastating solar flare. A gameplay trailer for New Cycle debuted during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase, noting that the game has a free demo that players can check out on Steam. New Cycle is coming soon to PC.

Ruffy and the Riverside

Ruffy and the Riverside is a charming mascot platformer where you copy and paste textures to change the game world in a radical fashion. Ruffy was revealed during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase with a funky gameplay trailer. If you’re interested, you’ll be pleased to hear that it’s coming to PC and Nintendo Switch later this year, with more consoles to be announced, so get it on your wishlists.

Unreal Engine 5 Showcase

This year’s Summer Showcase saw the debut of a new section called the Unreal Engine 5 Showcase, which featured a variety of vistas, demos and game projects leveraging the power of Unreal Engine 5.

Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson

We got a face-melting first look at Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase. A deck building RPG set in a musical pixel art world, it’s coming in 2024.

Paleo Pines

Paleo Pines is a life simulator where you befriend dinosaurs and build out a roarsome ranch. It’s coming to PC on September 26, but you can check out a demo for the game during Steam Next Fest, which kicks off on June 19.

Hammerwatch 2

A trailer for Crackshell’s Hammerwatch 2 debuted during the Summer Showcase. Hammerwatch 2 is a co-op action RPG where you will use your might to fend off beasts and bees in a pixelated world. Hammerwatch 2 is coming soon to PC, but a demo will be available for the game during Steam Next Fest starting June 19.

Ones to Play Montage

Our Ones to Play Montage debuted in this year’s Spring Showcase, and it returned in triumphant fashion for the Summer Show. Every game featured in this section has a demo attached, which you can play on Steam right after the show!

Featuring:

• Paper Trail

• Stick It To The Stickman

• Laysara: Summit Kingdom

• Mythwrecked

• World’s Worst Handyman

• REMEDIUM

Station to Station

The first gameplay trailer for Station to Station choo-choo’s its way into the Future Games Show Summer Showcase schedule. Station to Station is a wholesome simulator game where you’ll connect voxel railways to build thriving cities. It is coming to PC in 2023, and you can check out a demo for the game on Steam.

REKA

If you have ever wanted to play as a witch, collecting plants and crafting supplies in a giant chicken cottage, today is your lucky day. A new trailer for Emberstorm Entertainment’s Reka was dropped during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase. Reka is coming to PC in 2024.

Company of Heroes 3

SEGA delivered a thrilling trailer for Company of Heroes 3 Console Edition during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase. The converted version of the PC game is available now, so you can pick it up on PlayStation and Xbox and experience its thrilling campaigns with a controller in your hand.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical

A new trailer for Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical gave us a closer look at some of the game’s romanceable characters. Show host Laura Bailey (who plays Grace, the protagonist of Stray Gods) was on hand to reveal that Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical is also coming to Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch as well as PC on August 3, 2023.

Reveil

A thrilling first-person puzzle game set in a sinister circus, Reveil was... revealed at the Future Games Show Summer Showcase. A story and explorationfocused game that marks a collaboration between Pixelsplit and Daedalic Entertainment, Reveil is coming soon to PC.

Pacific Drive

The developers of Pacific Drive stopped by the Future Games Show Summer Showcase to tell us all about their history with station wagons and reveal more about Pacific Drive, the studio’s driving-focused survival adventure. Pacific Drive is coming to PC and PS5 later this year.

Cookie Cutter

A techno-pop-punk Metroidvania starring a badass android, Cookie Cutter is a hand-drawn adventure full of rage and chainsaws, and as our trailer revealed, it is coming to PC in the summer of 2023.

The Precinct

Evoking the classic top-down GTA games, The Precinct is a 1980s sandbox crime adventure where you play as rookie beat cop Nick Cordell. A

world premiere trailer for the game debuted during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase, revealing that the game is coming soon to PC, PlayStation and Xbox.

Luto

Luto is an atmospheric psychological horror experience where you play as an unfortunate soul unable to leave the confines of their own home. A new trailer for this thrilling tale appeared during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase, revealing that a demo for the game is available now on Steam. Luto is coming soon to PC and consoles.

The Spirit of the Samurai

Our ‘one more thing’ for this year’s Summer Showcase concerned The Spirit of the Samurai, a stunning stop-motion horror Metroidvania inspired by Japanese mythology. The Spirit of the Samurai is coming in 2024, so in the meantime, get it on your wishlists! So that was a very jam packed show for this year’s The Future Games Show Summer Showcase with many games shown, a couple surprises along the way and some great games to look forward to, we can’t wait to see more on what these games hold in the future.

pc gaming show 2023 recap

On June 11 we were spoiled once again with another gaming related showcase and this time it was the annual PC Gaming Show, broadcasted to millions of viewers online. This year’s event showcased the boundless creativity, humour and technical brilliance of the gaming scene with dozens of trailers, reveals and interviews.

More than 20 never before seen games were revealed during this showcase, including Earthless, Last Train Home, Chimera Squad and Dread Pilots, the show concluding with an exciting look at upcoming survival MMO Dune: Awakening. If you did manage to miss this great showcase we have you covered with a full recap below.

Frostpunk 2

Debuted at the PC Gaming Show 2023, 11 Bit Studios reveals a dire new trailer for its upcoming grim city management game Frostpunk 2, coming in 2024. The age of oil is coming, bringing new disasters, difficult edicts, and more.

Teardown

Teardown, the fully destructible sandbox heist game is adding a creative mode, so not only can you knock stuff down you can now build things up. Create models and objects in-game and save them to use in future sessions by “painting” with voxels. The creative mode trailer was revealed at the PC Gaming Show 2023.

Nivalis

In a new story trailer debuted at the PC Gaming Show 2023, immersive cyberpunk life sim Nivalis gives another look at its hazy, neon city. Explore Nivalis from the lowest docks to the highest layers when it launches in 2024.

Jumplight Odyssey

Debuted at the PC Gaming Show 2023, spaceship roguelite game Jumplight Odyssey shares a first look at space combat. You can defend your space colony in galactic battles when Jumplight odyssey’s demo lands on June 19.

Road to Vostok

Hardcore survival FPS Road to Vostok debuted a new gameplay trailer at the PC Gaming Show 2023 showing snowy climes, stocked bunkers, and tense combat. You can brave Vostok yourself in the newly-updated demo on Steam.

Ebenezer and the Invisible World

Hand-drawn Metroidvania set in the world of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Yes, you read that right. Announced on the PC Gaming Show 2023, you’ll play the butt-kicking, cane-thwacking anime hero, backed up by an army of friendly ghosts.

Warhaven

PvP fantasy combat game Warhaven is giving us all a chance to try it out, and we won’t have to wait long. You’ll be able to get a taste of Warhaven’s 16v16 medieval mayhem during Steam Next Fest from June 19-26, as announced at the PC Gaming Show 2023.

D.O.R.F

Premiered at the PC Gaming Show 2023, throwback RTS D.O.R.F. shares a new gameplay trailer full of classic PC gaming visuals. Catch more of its bombastic, laser-fuelled combat between three futuristic factions.

Sulfur

Sulfur is a single player extraction FPS with a charming and cartoony art style. Fight your way through levels to collect new guns, gear, and loot, and if you die before you safely extract, you’ll lose it all. This new trailer for Sulfur was shown at the PC Gaming Show 2023.

Saleblazers

Debuted at the PC Gaming Show 2023, Saleblazers shows off a new trailer for its open world survival shop sim entering into early access from June 11. Play with up to eight players in online coop surviving an unforgiving island and building a thriving shop ahead of the full release on September 29.

Eternights

Eternights is a dating action game blending Devil May Cry swordplay and Persona-style character development. Explore dangerous dungeons, scavenge the wasteland for resources, and don’t forget to go on dates. The new release date trailer premiered on the PC Gaming Show 2023.

Pax Dei

Pax Dei will bring a unique approach to lore, items and storytelling in an RPG when it releases. Influenced by real life folklore as well as games like EVE Online that empathise players agency, Pax Dei looks like it won’t be just another fantasy RPG.

Stampede Racing Royale

Stampede Racing Royale combines a cart racer like Mario Kart with a fast-paced battle royale elimination-style game like Fall Guys. 60 drivers all compete in the same race, with 20 being eliminated each round. Collect power-ups like mines, shields, and speed boosts as you try to become the last player driving.

Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life

Debuted at the PC Gaming Show 2023, Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life shares a new trailer and plans for an alpha test. Sign up to participate on the Mars Horizon 2 website ahead of the alpha later this year.

Ferocious

Ferocious is a first person shooter set on a deadly dinosaur filled island. At the PC Gaming Show 2023, the lead developer guided us through the action adventure which inspired films like King Kong and Jurassic Park and game series like Far Cry and Crysis.

Islands of Insight

Islands of Insight is a shared-world puzzle adventure set in a mysterious fantasy realm. Explore, find puzzles, and collaborate with other players to solve them while travelling on foot or flying over the landscape with wings.

Lords of the Fallen

Premiered at the PC Gaming Show 2023, this new trailer for Lords of the Fallen shows off its continued pursuit of the souls like ideal. Catch more of its tricorn-laden combat ahead of its launch in October.

Naheulbeuk’s Dungeon Master

Build a lair and manage your minions in Naheulbeuk’s Dungeon Master, revealed today at the PC Gaming Show 2023. Defend your dungeon from adventurers who want to fill their pockets with loot while keeping your underlings happy enough to avoid HR problems.

Mariachi

Imagine Ninja Gaiden, but it’s set in Mexico and you’re a detective battling against a sinister gang. Revealed at the PC Gaming Show 2023, Mariachi Legends is a 2D action platformer developed by Mexico-based developer Halberd Studios and inspired by games like Katano Zero and Castlevania.

Miasma Chronicles

Shared at the PC Gaming Show 2023, the developers of Mutant: Year Zero: Road to Eden give us a new look at their next strategy game Miasma Chronicles. Journey through New America as Elvis and Diggs after miasma has torn through modern society.

Undead Inc.

Instead of fighting against an evil corporation that’s creating zombies with unethical lab experiments, why not run that corporation yourself? Undead

Inc. is a management sim where you cook up supersoldier serums and weaponized zombie viruses, all in the name of turning a profit. Just make sure you keep the government, the public, and even your own workers in the dark.

Altered Alma

Announced at the PC Gaming Show, Altered Alma is a “Space Opera Metroidvania” set in a futuristic cyberpunk Barcelona. Battle your way through goons and kingpins, upgrade your cyberware, make new friends, and even enjoy a little romance.

Invector: Rhythm Galaxy

Announced at the PC Gaming Show 2023, Invector: Rhythm Galaxy is a music game where you race down brightly coloured tracks to the beat of massive pop hits. Even better, you don’t have to jam to the beat by yourself. Invector: Rhythm Galaxy supports up to four players in local co-op play.

The Invincible

Sci-fi adventure The Invincible shared a new trailer at the PC Gaming Show 2023, showing off more of the environments we’ll be exploring, the mysteries we’ll be solving, and lots of the game’s glossy, ‘50s atompunk aesthetic.

Park Beyond

In a new trailer debuted at the PC Gaming Show 2023, Park Beyond shows off even more wild rides for Visioners to construct in their own theme parks. Chart your way through a campaign or sandbox mode when Park Beyond launches this month.

Pathfinder: Gallowspire Survivors

Pathfinder: Gallowspire Survivors is based on the popular tabletop RPG and it takes the Vampire Survivors formula a step further by letting you play with a companion. Pick a class from a fighter, rogue, or wizard, and then pick another to bring along with you. The action roguelite was revealed at the PC Gaming Show 2023.

Parcel Corps

Ride walls and grind rails as a bicycle messenger in Parcel Courier, revealed at the PC Gaming

Show 2023. Take on delivery jobs for different corporations and then speed through the city, Crazy Taxi-style, to get customers their packages before they get tired of waiting.

Fabledom

Early access city builder Fabledom shared a new trailer at the PC Gaming Show 2023 with details on its recent Art of Soldiery update and a tease for the upcoming Gallantry & Bartering update. If you turn your eye away from the demands of war and civil duties, you may yet find love to build on too.

Chimera

First revealed at the PC Gaming Show 2023, Chimera is a sci-fi survival sim set on an alien planet from the makers of Green Hell. Endure violent weather events that are not just destructive but also, weirdly enough, helpful as they give rise to new resources.

30XX

Revealed at the PC Gaming Show 2023, 30XX is leaving early access for a full launch in August. This Mega Man-inspired side scrolling platformer shows off its roguelite mode which delivers randomly generated levels and permadeath. Tackle each level in leaps and bounds alongside a friend in local or online co-op.

Shadow Gambit

Announced at the PC Gaming Show 2023, Mimimi Games reveals the release date for its next stealth tactics game Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew, launching on August 17.

Exo Rally Championship

Exo Rally Championship puts you behind the wheel in the most dangerous off-road racing event in the galaxy. First revealed at the PC Gaming Show 2023, you’ll speed across untamed planets through meteor strikes, volcanic eruptions, and try to control your buggy’s jumps using thrusters. Damage to your racer can include overheating, wheel failures, and even toxic gas leaks.

Stormgate

“Stepping into a Stormgate match is like entering a portal back to the halcyon days of Warcraft,

Starcraft and Command & Conquer, back when the RTS masters of the time, Blizzard and Westwood, were continually trying to one-up each other,” writes Fraser. Check out our preview.

Fortune’s Run

Exclusive to the PC Gaming Show 2023, cyberpunk FPS and immersive sim Fortune’s Run reveals its September 1 early access release date. Jump into a new and improved demo to try its fast-paced, classic kicking and shooting combat.

Hell Let Loose

Announced during the PC Gaming Show 2023, historical multiplayer FPS Hell Let Loose shares the Objective mode in its Devotion to Duty update. This shorter and faster game mode will feature smaller teams of just 25 players. Take a look at the new Brécourt Manor Assault map.

Upcoming games montage

The montage segment featured Atomic Picnic, Gaucho and the Grassland, Jorel’s Brother and The Most Important Game of the Galaxy, Mullet Madjack, Nova Lands, and Revival: Recolonization—you can find all those trailers here!

Vampire Survivors

Revealed on the PC Gaming Show 2023, action roguelite Vampire Survivors has a new update headed our way. Version 1.5 will add some funlooking new toys, like a game show-like spinning wheel to trigger random events, as well as a new “GoldFinger” pickup, and more.

Baldur’s Gate 3

In a new dev diary premiered at the PC Gaming Show 2023, Larian Studios developers reveal a deeper look at the city of Baldur’s Gate. Larian shares the monumental amount of work involved in reimagining the city’s districts for this new entry in the series and the unending possibilities of a seamless city.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Mashed Animation

Premiered at the PC Gaming Show 2023, an animated short by culture parody troupe Mashed explores the sillier side of questing with Baldur’s Gate 3’s main characters. Learning to speak with animals is a time-honoured Larian Studios RPG

tradition, but are the rewards always worth the price?

Ember Knights

Revealed during the PC Gaming Show 2023, early access roguelite Ember Knights shares its full launch date coming in July. In this fresh trailer Doom Turtle shows off a lot more intense, co-op combat coming in the 1.0 launch next month.

TerraTech World

TerraTech Worlds is an open world survival sandbox revealed at the PC Gaming Show 2023. Build your own custom vehicles and use them to explore strange alien worlds, battle enemies, collect resources, and terraform unknown planets. Alpha testing begins this summer.

Macabre

Macabre is a multiplayer stealth extraction horror, first revealed on the PC Gaming Show 2023. A group of survivors are stranded in a dimensional rift that twists and changes with each session and must search for weapons and gear and hopefully survive the horrifying creatures stalking them long enough to return to the safety of the lodge.

Earthless

In Earthless, a new roguelike strategy deck builder first revealed on the PC Gaming Show 2023, players command the final colony ships through outer space in search of a new home. Engage enemies in grid-based combat while building a deck of tactical abilities and managing your crew.

Nova Roma

Announced first at the PC Gaming Show 2023, Nova Roma is a new city builder from Lion Shield and strategy publisher Hooded Horse. The stylish treatment of ancient Rome has you managing natural features like water, and catering to the needs of elite politicians and citizens.

Last Train Home

Last Train Home is a survival strategy set during the Russian Civil War, revealed on the PC Gaming Show 2023. Part real-time strategy and part management game, you’ll need to guide an armoured train across the Trans-Siberian Railway and do your best to protect your legion of Czechoslovakian soldiers desperately trying to make it back home.

My Friendly Neighborhood

My Friendly Neighborhood asks, “What if Resident Evil took place on Sesame Street?” The bizarre and colourful first-person shooter lets you face off against murderous muppets in an abandoned television studio. The release date trailer for the slapstick survival horror was revealed on the PC Gaming Show 2023.

F1 Manager 2023

Revealed at the PC Gaming Show 2023, upcoming F1 Manager 2023 shares its Scenario Mode which will let you relive key moments of the current real F1 season. You’ll be able to right the wrongs by pitting your own strategy against how the season unfolded and turn the tide for your team.

Breathedge 2

Revealed at the PC Gaming Show 2023, Breathedge 2 is the sequel to comedy adventure Breathedge, but this time it’s less linear and more of a survival sandbox. Build your spaceship, manage your crew, and try to survive on different planets... without any useful skills.

Bloomtown

First revealed during the PC Gaming Show 2023,

Bloomtown is a life sim where everything is not as it seems. This cosy village quickly turns dark and you’ll need to fuse with frightening creatures to win turn-based battles.

Sand

If you’re looking for a game with a unique setting, how about a dystopian open-world multiplayer survival game set in an alternate future where the Austro-Hungarian empire discovered interplanetary travel on the eve of World War I. If that’s not unique, nothing is. Sand was revealed at the PC Gaming Show 2023.

Dune: Awakening

How do you make Dune into a massivelymultiplayer game? Speaking with members of the team behind the project at Funcom in Oslo, Norway, the studio tells us about how combat will unfold, the roles players will take, and how political power will be represented in this ambitious survival-MMO.

So there we have yet another great summer showcase for us all to see, it was another great one with some great games shown and announced we can’t wait to see more in the future and as always we can’t wait to play them all.

capcom summer game showcase 2023

We have been really spoilt this summer with several game shows already been showcased with another one provided to us by Capcom on June 12 2023. Capcom had nothing to prove, especially given their current run of critically acclaimed games, so the few titbits and reveals we did get were a welcomed bonus.

However if you did manage to miss this showcase we have put together a short Recap of what was announced below, we can’t wait to see more on all these great games soon.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess

Unfortunately, this was exactly the same trailer as first shown at the Xbox Games Showcase, although we don’t remember the bit about it containing both ‘strategy and action’ before – not that that helps understand what it is. It seems to involve kami though, the gods and spirits of the Shinto religion, although that also doesn’t really explain much.

In the original reveal, we felt sure it was going to turn out to be a new Onimusha game, which means that Capcom now has two new titles on the way that seem reminiscent of a mothballed franchise but don’t actually have anything to do with it – after it transpired that Exoprimal isn’t a Dino Crisis spin-off after all.

Mega Man X Dive Offline

We’re going to drop some spoilers here and admit that there weren’t really any major new announcements during the showcase and we doubt many people in the West, and especially not in Europe, are going to be interested in a new Mega Man X mobile game. Especially not one that seems to have gacha elements, involving collecting and unlocking new characters and stages. If you are keen though, it’s out later this year.

Pragmata

Although it was briefly mentioned, there was no release date for Resident Evil 4’s VR mode and there also wasn’t for Pragmata – the mysterious third person action game announced back in 2020 and never mentioned again since. Now that it has

been though the news is not great since it’s been indefinitely delayed, with not even a launch year to its name. Capcom apologised to the game’s ‘fans’ but how you can be a fan of something when you don’t even know what it is, we’re not sure. Although to be fair, every new Capcom is automatically interesting to some degree.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

As a case in point, Ghost Trick is an absolute gem. Originally released in 2010 for the Nintendo DS, it was the brainchild of Ace Attorney creator Shu Takumi (who appeared to promote the game, claiming he’d spent two weeks practising his English) but never proved very successful. It’s getting an unexpected second chance with this very welcome remaster for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC. It’s out in just a few weeks’ time, on June 30, but if you’re not convinced you can try out the free demo that should be available as you read this.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy

Speaking of Shu Takumi, he must be in someone’s good books at the moment, as there’s going to be a new remastered collection of the fourth, fifth, and sixth mainline entries in the Ace Attorney series. Apollo Justice was first released on DS in 2007 and sees the titular new lawyer replace Phoenix Wright as the main playable character. Dual Destinies was the first entry to debut on the 3DS, in 2013, and Spirit Of Justice is currently the final entry in the series, having first launched for 3DS in 2016. There’s still no sign of a brand new game but hopefully that’s what all this is building up to.

Exoprimal

Another game that’s out soon, on July 14, this non-Dino Crisis related dinosaur game seems to be Capcom’s attempt at a live service title, even though it’s a paid-for game (although it is free day one via Game Pass). Recently there’s been more emphasis on the exosuits you wear than the dinosaurs you fight but it’s still clearly a multiplayer-only game, even though there is some kind of story going on.

The Showcase footage concentrated on a new mode called The Savage Gauntlet, which involves five-player missions that change weekly. Oddly, there was no reference to the Ryu and Guile exosuits that were present at the Xbox Games Showcase but Capcom did announce a second open beta, which will run from June 16 to 18 and involves extra story related missions and co-op options.

Dragon’s Dogma 2

Even though it got the prime slot at the end of the

showcase there wasn’t really much substantial news about this long-awaited sequel, just a reconfirmation that there are no co-op options and that it’s still an open world action role-player. The AI-controlled Pawns take the role of human allies and it’s clear the game is trying to lean into the fact that it’s a co-op game where you don’t have to worry about interacting with any pesky humans. Capcom also revealed that the game world will be around four times the size of the first and highlighted the game’s ‘immersive physics’, via a destructible bridge and what happens when you pull a monster’s leg. It all looked perfectly fine, but it was a surprisingly short glimpse and there’s still no word on a release date.

And that’s it. However, it’s Capcom’s 40th anniversary this year and they’re got a ‘digital museum’ at Capcom Town that they’re using to celebrate the fact, with free playable retro games, artwork, and concept designs. They hinted that there’d be more freebies and extras as the month goes on, as well as an anniversary sale, including Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen, Ace Attorney, and up to 87% off on Steam.

UBISOFT FORWARD SUMMER 2023

Ubisoft showed off a lot of its plans for the rest of 2023 and beyond with their Ubisoft Forward which aired June 12th 2023. There was a huge 10 minute segment for Star Wars Outlaws which showed some great gameplay, there was also a release date and gameplay for the upcoming Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora game, an update on a trio of Assassins Creed games and much more, Ubisoft packed a lot into this presentation which was great to see and we look forward to seeing more from these games in the future. If you did miss the latest Ubisoft Forward then you can read all about what was announced below in our recap.

Just Dance 2024 Edition

Surprising no one, Ubisoft kicked things off with confirmation of a new Just Dance. Ubisoft was also eager to let people know that Just Dance is now recognised as an official Olympic sport, advertising it as such alongside a full dance number. Just Dance 2024 launches on October 24 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.

Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora

Ubisoft Massive finally showed some real gameplay for its Avatar game (complete with some commentary from James Cameron) and it very much looks like Far Cry but with the Na’vi. It launches for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on December 7.

XDefiant

After showing some live streams from multiplayer shooter XDefiant’s closed beta session, Ubisoft revealed that it will be getting an open beta from June 21 to June 23. It launches this summer for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown

Despite the extreme fan backlash, Ubisoft Montpellier looks like it’s onto a winner here with Metroidvania inspired Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown, even if the main character’s overly grumpy. It launches for PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC on January 18.

Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix

Adi Shankar, the showrunner behind the popular Castlevania Netflix show, rocked up on stage to debut a trailer for a new Netflix anime called Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix.

Although it’s based on the Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon expansion, it promises to feature a number of ‘remixed’ Ubisoft characters. It airs this autumn.

Tom Clancy’s The Division Resurgence

This mobile spin-off made a brief appearance with a mostly cinematic trailer. A few snippets of gameplay were shown near the end as well as an autumn launch window for iOS and Android devices.

Skull And Bones

For some reason, Ubisoft announced a closed beta test for eternally delayed pirate game Skull And Bones via another musical number. The beta runs from August 25 to August 28 but there’s no sign of a new launch date.

The Crew Motorfest

The Crew Motorfest gave off Forza Horizon vibes at its gameplay debut, showcasing a variety of vehicles racing throughout its new Hawaiian setting. It launches for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC on September 14 but there’ll be a closed beta beforehand from July 21 to July 23.

Assassin’s Creed Nexus

As promised, Assassin’s Creed’s first VR title made an appearance but just with a cinematic trailer and no gameplay. It did reveal that rather than a new protagonist, you’ll get to experience new adventures with three established heroes from previous games. It launches for the Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest 3 later this year.

Assassin’s Creed Jade

The first of several Assassin’s Creed mobile games made a brief appearance, just to tease some gameplay and announce that you can register to participate in a closed beta. It’s in development

for iOS and Android devices.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage

The penultimate game of the showcase, Assassin’s Creed Mirage definitely looks like a throwback to the series’ roots. It’s a shame Ubisoft won’t let anyone try it out before it launches for PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Amazon Luna on October 12.

Star Wars Outlaws

The final showing was, of course, Star Wars Outlaws, with an impressive gameplay demonstration and some incredible graphics. It launches in 2024 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

nintendo direct 2023

The second Nintendo Direct of the year has come and gone, and it ended up being a good one for Nintendo Switch players. We got a new look at the soon-to-be-released exclusive Pikmin 4 and Nintendo finally revealed what’s coming to the Switch during the back half of 2023. Mario will dominate the Nintendo Switch’s fall lineup thanks to a remake of Super Mario RPG, a new WarioWare title, and a brand new 2D platformer titled Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

A game starring Princess Peach was even teased for 2024. The event lasted over 40 minutes and quickly went through lots of announcements. We know that it might have been tough for some of you to tune in live, so we’ve recapped everything announced during the June 2023 Nintendo Direct right here.

We got our first deep dive into Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s expansions

To kick off the Nintendo Direct, Nintendo gave us an in-depth look at the upcoming Pokémon Scarlet and Violet expansions The Teal Mask and The Indigo Disk. Tons of new Pokémon are getting added in the expansion, including Gligar. There will be new characters to come across, including Carmine and Cryano, and players will be able to visit many of the vibrant new locales. Both are shaping up to be meaty expansions for what are already a massive pair of games. Unfortunately, they still don’t have specific release dates. The Teal Mask releases first in fall 2023, while The Indigo Disk comes out this winter.

Detective Pikachu Returns comes out in October

After first being announced all the way back in May 2019, we finally got a look at the next Detective Pikachu game. We get new looks at Tim Goodman and the titular coffee-loving, sleuthing Pikachu, who are solving a mystery involving Mewtwo during what’s supposed to be a Pokémon Friendship Week. Titled Detective Pikachu Returns, it will be released on October 6.

Super Mario RPG is getting a remake

Nintendo confirmed that SNES classic Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is getting a remake for Nintendo Switch. In the clip, we see lots of classic characters re envisioned in a new, more modern chibi style, but the game still

looks quite faithful to the SNES release and retains the same turn-based combat of the original. Simply titled Super Mario RPG, this remake will be released on November 17.

Pikmin 4 lets you explore at night

Pikmin 4, which is exactly one month away from release, got an in-depth showcase during the latest Nintendo Direct. Throughout its segment, we learned more about what the game’s moment-to-moment gameplay looks like. At a base level, it’s similar to the first three games in the series but stands out thanks to how players can use Oatchi to traverse, go underground to explore more intense dungeons, and engage in new Dandori Battles. Players can now also explore the planet they are stuck on during the night but will need the help of new Glow Pikmin to help fight off enraged enemies. Pikmin 4 will be released for Nintendo Switch on July 21. A demo for Pikmin 4 will be released on June 28.

The next WarioWare game emphasizes motion controls

A more “traditional” WarioWare game was announced for Nintendo Switch. Instead of the co-op play of 2021’s Get it Together, WarioWare: Move It! puts the emphasis on the Joy-Con motion controls in over 200 microgames. The game will support co-op play for two players and also have some four-player party modes. WarioWare: Move It! will be released on November 3.

Super Mario Bros Wonder is a brand new 2D Mario game

Nintendo closed out this Nintendo Direct by revealing Super Mario Bros. Wonder. It’s the first non-Super Mario Maker-related 2D Mario game in over a decade, and it sports a beautiful new art style. There are lots of wacky stage gimmicks too, which appear when players touch the Wonder Flower that’s present in a level. Coop, a playable Princess Daisy, and an elephant power-up were also confirmed during its reveal segment. Like Sonic Superstars, this appears to be a return to form for the series while innovating on it in some key ways. Super Mario Bros. Wonder will be released for Nintendo Switch on October 20.

Everything Else

So those were all the major announcements during the Nintendo Direct, however there were a couple more additional things during the show which we have noted below.

• Sonic Superstars‘ playable characters and Emerald Powers were highlighted in a dedicated gameplay segment.

• Free-to-play farming and life sim Palia will be released this holiday season.

• Persona 5 Tactica was confirmed for Nintendo Switch.

• MythForce is coming to Nintendo Switch later this year.

• Splatoon 3’s next Splatfest is Vanilla vs. Strawberry vs. Mint Chip. It will run from July 14 until July 16.

• A game starring Princess Peach was confirmed to be in development. It will be released in 2024

• Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon is getting ported to Nintendo Switch in 2024.

• Batman: Arkham Trilogy will be released for Nintendo Switch this fall.

• Gloomhaven was announced for Nintendo Switch. It will be released on September 18.

• Just Dance 2024 Edition got a new trailer.

• Silent Hope, a dungeon-crawling game starring heroes who can’t speak, was announced by XSEED Games. It will be released on October 3.

• Fae Farm got a gameplay overview during a dedicated segment.

• Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 – Turbocharged saw its skill system, split screen co-op, and more were revealed.

• Manic Mechanics was announced.

• Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope got a free demo and new DLC titled The Last Spark Hunter today.

• Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince was announced. It releases on December 1.

• HD versions of Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2 are now available on Nintendo Switch.

• Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 is coming to Nintendo Switch, with Konami also confirming that it will feature the NES Metal Gear games, previously released graphic novels, and more. It will be released on October 24.

• Vampire Survivors comes to Nintendo Switch on August 17.

• Rhythm battle royale Headbangers Rhythm Royale will be released on October 31.

• 3D platformer Penny’s Big Breakaway was announced and will be released in early 2024.

• Wave 5 over the Booster Course Pass will add the track Squeaky Clean Sprint and characters Petey Piranha, Wiggler, and Kamek to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe this summer.

• Star Ocean The Second Story R, an HD-2D remake of Square Enix’s classic sci-fi RPG, was announced with a November 2 release date.

• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom‘s Zelda and Ganon amiibo will be released during the 2023 holiday season.

xbox summer games showcase 2023

Microsoft took to the stage on June 11 2023 in Los Angeles for its most anticipated showcase of the year and of course it’s Starfield direct.The first half was all about Xbox, between its first-party and third-party offerings, while the second half took us all for a deep dive into the world of Starfield.

This Xbox showcase felt very strong for me and in my opinion is hard to top from their competitors anytime soon, maybe it was the sheer variety of the showcase, from new original to first-party reveals or maybe it’s that xbox managed to surprise us with many moments leak free A lot of games may have been aimed to 2024 but wow those reveals were something special, we do however have the all new Cyberpunk update to look forward to and of course the massive open world RPG that is Starfield alongside this with September being a pretty hefty month for gaming. If you for some reason have missed this showcase then we have you covered with a recap of what was announced below.

Fable

Microsoft kicked things off with a big one: a new trailer for its Fable reboot, which hasn’t been seen since 2020. Unfortunately, it didn’t really have much to share. The trailer only reveals that British actor Richard Ayoade will make an appearance, without any clear gameplay footage or a launch window.

It will be available on Game Pass from day one whenever it does come out, which can also be said for most of the other games on this list.

South Of Midnight

It was rumoured a couple of years ago that Compulsion Games’ next project would be some kind of southern gothic inspired fantasy title, and the reveal of South Of Midnight proved those rumours right. There was no gameplay, but the distinct visual style is sure to earn it some fans already. No launch date either but it’ll come to Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Star Wars Outlaws

Not only does Ubisoft Massive mystery Star Wars project have a name, but it’s also slated to launch in 2024 despite what the rumours said. While the trailer for Star Wars Outlaws lacked gameplay, Ubisoft promises to have some at its own showcase tomorrow. It’s scheduled for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

33 Immortals

From the studio behind Spiritfarer, 33 Immortals looks as visually strong as that game does and boasts a unique hook of 33 player co-op. This action roguelike launches in early access in 2024 for Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Payday 3

There were rumblings of a Payday 3 launch date reveal happening soon, but the Xbox trailer got to show off some gameplay as well. It certainly looks like classic Payday with clown faced robbers pulling off a bank heist. It launches for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC on September 21.

Persona 3 Reload

Perhaps the most heavily rumoured title of the showcase, Persona 3 Reload reveal was significantly dampened by the trailer leaking earlier this week. It arrives early 2024 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, but expect it to be a multiplatform launch.

Avowed

There was unsurprisingly no sign of The Outer Worlds 2, but that’s only because Obsidian’s next project, fantasy roleplaying game Avowed, is on its way first. The brief gameplay trailer confirms a 2024 launch for Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Sea Of Thieves: The Legend Of Monkey Island

Rare’s Everwild remains MIA, but Sea Of Thieves fans will soon be treated to a long overdue crossover with the Monkey Island games. It arrives on June 20 and takes players to Mêlée Island, with several Monkey Island characters like Guybrush Threepwood and LeChuck set to appear.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

The 2021 Microsoft Flight Simulator will be getting some Dune themed DLC on November 3 to tie in with the new movie, but developer Asobo Studio is also putting together a whole new sequel. Scheduled for next autumn, it’ll launch for Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2

Technically the very first Xbox Series X/S game ever shown, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 will join Avowed in 2024. It’ll also launch for PC and the new trailer is fittingly dark and creepy, and another reminder of how amazing its graphics are.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

It didn’t have any gameplay but the sequel to the 2020 Yakuza: Like A Dragon roleplaying game has a full title of Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth and seems to take protagonist Kasuga outside of Japan as he’s seen washing up on a presumably American beach. It’s scheduled for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC in early 2024.

Fallout 76

Fallout 76 got a short musical number to remind people it’s still up and running, though it ended with confirmation that players will get to visit Atlantic City in a future update.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess

Details are scarce, but Microsoft has partnered with Capcom on a very Japanese action game titled Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess. It’s scheduled for Xbox Series X/S with no sign of a multiplatform launch. Perhaps Capcom will share more info at its showcase tomorrow on June 12 at 11pm BST.

Forza Motorsport

Forza Motorsport was already guaranteed to appear at the showcase and thankfully Turn 10 Studios had an exact launch date for it too: October 10. It’ll come to Xbox Series X/S and PC, with footage of its single player campaign to be shared on Tuesday June 13.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom

The lack of The Elder Scrolls 6 was hardly surprising, but fans of The Elder Scrolls Online were treated to a trailer for the upcoming Necrom expansion, which arrived on June 20.

Overwatch 2

In the wake of cancelling some of Overwatch 2’s PvE content and angering a lot of fans, Blizzard Entertainment’s newest trailer clearly hopes to win them back by highlighting the story content that wasn’t scrapped. The first batch of story missions arrives on August 10 as part of a wider update.

Persona 5 Tactica

The second Atlus reveal of the show, Persona 5 Tactica’s existence also leaked alongside Persona 3 Reload. This strategy game spin-off launches on November 17 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC and probably other platforms too.

Jusant

Described as an ‘action-puzzle climbing game with meditative vibes,’ Jusant is another new announcement from Life Is Strange studio Don’t Nod, which also revealed Banishers: Ghosts Of New Eden at Summer Game Fest earlier this week. Jusant launches this autumn for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

Still Wakes The Deep

Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs studio The Chinese Room is back with another first person horror game, with this one set on an off-shore oil rig set upon by some kind of unseen monster. It launches for consoles and PC in early 2024.

Dungeons Of Hinterberg

Despite the cosy vibes of its visuals, Dungeons Of Hinterberg is actually a new action role playing game from Microbird Games, albeit one with life sim elements too. This is the studio’s debut game, and it launches as an Xbox Series X/S and PC exclusive in 2024.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Keanu Reeves popped by to introduce the gameplay trailer for Cyberpunk 2077’s DLC expansion, the spy thriller themed Phantom Liberty. Set in a new district named Dogtown, it arrives for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC on September 26.

Cities: Skylines 2

Paradox Interactive had a new gameplay trailer for its city builder sequel, and confirmation that it will launch on October 24. Aside from Xbox Series X/S, it’ll come to PC and PlayStation 5.

Metaphor: ReFantazio

The third Atlus reveal and one not to be leaked, Metaphor: ReFantazio definitely boasts the strangest name of the showcase. While it looks an awful lot like a Persona or Shin Megami Tensei game, it’s a brand new IP and is currently slated for an Xbox Series X/S and PC release in 2024.

Towerborne

The previously rumoured Project Belfry from 2021 made its debut under the new name of Towerborne. As was claimed back then, it’s a side-scrolling beat ‘em up from The Banner Saga developer Stoic Studio and launches in 2024 for Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Clockwork Revolution

Set in a steam powered metropolis that looks an awful lot like the setting of BioShock Infinite, Clockwork Revolution is a first person role playing shooter from Wasteland 3 studio inXile Entertainment. Details are slim but it teases some time travel shenanigans where changes to the past can radically change the city. No launch date but it’s exclusive to Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Starfield

The obvious grand finale to the whole thing, Bethesda spent over 40 minutes talking about Starfield, highlighting new gameplay footage and breaking down nearly every aspect of the game. It’s still on track for an Xbox Series X/S and PC launch on September 6 and pre-orders are now available.

Xbox announced an all new Xbox Series S

On top of everything else Xbox announced an all new Series S with a much slicker look and more storage.

The Xbox Series S Carbon Black 1TB SSD model offers the standard Xbox Series S performance, but doubles the original white console’s storage, bringing the usual 512GB to 1TB. It’s also carbon black, of course so this will match your Series X very well.

You’ll be able to pick up an Xbox Series S 1TB Carbon Black console from 1st September, for $349.99/£299.99

Overall this was one of Xbox’s best showcases to date with the games we all have been asking to see and much more, not only that Starfield is now shaping up to be Game Of The Year attender which I must say this game looked fantastic, we look forward to seeing more on all of these games in the future.

xbox game showcase extended 2023

On June 13 2023 Xbox took us on a deeper dive into all the exciting new games coming soon to Xbox and Windows. During Xbox Games Showcase and Starfield Direct double feature, Xbox showcased a massive lineup of games coming soon to Xbox and Game Pass, like Starfield, Forza Motorsport, and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2.

On June 13 2023, during Xbox Game Showcase Extended, Xbox went even further, as Xbox’s Tina Amini guided us through many new reveals and behind-the-scenes details with the development teams from Ninja Theory (Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II), Tango Gameworks (Hi-Fi Rush), and Obsidian (Avowed) as well as a special interview with Keanu Reeves for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. Xbox also unveiled neverbefore-seen gameplay for Lies of P, revealed the first DLC expansion for High on Life, and even had our own Head of Xbox Phil Spencer go hands-on with 33 Immortals. Xbox also shared more of an amazing Microsoft Flight Simulator crossover with “Dune” and gave fans another glimpse at Xbox Game Studios Publishing title, Towerborne. Here’s everything that was revealed during the Xbox Games Showcase Extended below.

Developer Deep Dives

Avowed: Taking a Deeper Dive into the Showcase Trailer

Those wishing to discover more about Avowed are invited to join us as we talk to Carrie Patel, Game Director on Avowed, as she gives us our first introduction to the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger in the fictional world of Eora. Learn about Kai, the first companion introduced to the player, and find out more about your adventures in the upcoming firstperson fantasy-RPG from Obsidian Entertainment.

Discover Towerborne

Go behind the scenes of Towerborne, the newest adventure from Stoic, the creators of the Banner Saga. Learn more from the development team about what inspired Stoic to make Towerborne, along with more details around the art style, seasonality, and lore. New gameplay footage shows the player journey from The Belfry to the world map, then into combat.

how combos can make your Ace even more powerful in battle and multiplayer allows friends to join in on the fun. Towerborne has something for everyone, and seasons will bring even more content post-launch.

33 Immortals Gameplay Deep-Dive

“Every year in our Showcase, there’s one game that kind of pops for me – something I’m very interested in. This year, we got to announce 33 Immortals from Thunder Lotus.” So began Head of Xbox Phil Spencer in a very special Let’s Play of this new action game from the creators of Spiritfarer.

Spencer was joined by two developers from Thunder Lotus… and 30 other players to take a dive into this deeply unusual new roguelike. They discussed the shift from releasing Spiritfarer to a very different experience, how you create a 33-player co-op game, and much more.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Brings Gameplay and a Keanu Reeves Interview!

Exclusive footage from CD Projekt Red showed off Dogtown’s black market, one of the many locations to discover in Phantom Liberty, the upcoming expansion to Cyberpunk 2077. Quest Director Paweł Sasko introduced players to the chromed-out vendors who hawk their wares here and gave some more insight into just what players can expect from the expansion. Afterwards, Keanu Reeves joined for an

Phil Spencer Joins Thunder Lotus for a

interview, sharing his thoughts on Dogtown, its ruler Colonel Hansen, secret agent Solomon Reed, and more.

High on Life Is Getting Horror-Comedy DLC: High on Knife

Squanch Games appeared to show us High on Knife, a DLC expansion for the acclaimed High on Life. Taking the game in a horror-comedy direction, High on Knife stars Knifey, the bloodthirsty melee weapon voiced by Michael Cusack. The trailer shows off new characters, enemies and biomes – and also introduces us to a brand new character/gun. Enter Harper, the newest gun of the High on Life universe, voiced by Sarah Sherman (“Saturday Night Live”)!

Lies of P Gets a Deep-Dive, Shows Off New Gameplay

Neowiz just gave an exclusive look at Lies of P during the Xbox Extended Showcase today, highlighting several of the core features that are unique to the game. Fans were treated to neverbefore-seen content that gave a closer look at the weapon combination system, Legion Arms and P’s Organ just to name a few.

Exclusive Look Behind the Scenes Microsoft Flight Simulator – Dune Expansion

Head of the Microsoft Flight Simulator team, Jorg Neumann, host Parris Lilly and Academy Award-winning production designer of the Dune film franchise, Patrice Vermette, took us behind the scenes of the Microsoft Flight Simulator –Dune Expansion and provide exciting details coming in this free content update.

See “Dune: Part Two” in theatres and experience Microsoft Flight Simulator – Dune Expansion on November 3, 2023. Microsoft Flight Simulator – Dune Expansion is free for all Game Pass subscribers and owners of Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II – Go Behind the Scenes of the Latest Trailer

Ninja Theory take us behind the scenes of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, exploring how their use of performance capture is bringing the

story of Senua to life. From humble beginnings in a converted board room, to a state-of-the-art performance capture stage at their Cambridge studio, Ninja Theory aims to suspend your disbelief and sink you into Senua’s world and story.

New Reveals

Exosuits & Savage Gauntlet Bring More Customization & Player Choice to Exoprimal

Attention, Exofighters – new variant Exosuits have been approved for use in the wargames! Revealed in detail during Xbox Games Showcase Extended, these “Alpha’’ variants change the way each suit plays. In addition, Exoprimal Director Takuro Hiraoka showcased an additional highoctane co-op mode, Savage Gauntlet. This mode tasks players with clearing missions efficiently rather than racing against another team, giving players a new way to test their skills against dino hordes. Finally, an additional Open Beta Test will begin soon.

The First Descendant Announces Cross play Beta

The First Descendant, a next-generation third-person looter shooter, revealed a neverbefore-seen Xbox Series gameplay trailer, and announced a crossplay beta. With high-quality graphics developed using Unreal Engine 5, it presents fun, strategic boss fights through 4-player co-op, unique characters, exciting gunplay, and looting. Available on PC and consoles, including Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One, The First Descendant Cross play Beta will start Tuesday, August 22, 2023, and run for a week until Monday, August 28, 2023.

Mech Mash-up, Go Mecha Ball Coming to PC and Xbox in Early 2024

Get ready to roll, shoot and dash through an action-packed roguelite extravaganza in Go Mecha Ball, coming exclusively to PC and Xbox in early 2024 from indie supergroup Whale Peak Games and Super Rare Originals! Switch between a gun-toting walking mech and an agile, rolling ball while blasting your way through four distinct worlds, filled with angry sons of glitches, relentless boss battles and increasingly wacky

tools and obstacles! Unlock several dozen new weapons, abilities and upgrades alongside four unique mechs in a never-ending explosion of punchy, acrobatic action that heralds a new generation of physics-based, 3D platform roguelite fun!

The Lamplighters League Shows More of Its Alternate 1930s Setting

Developed by Harebrained Schemes, the creators of The Shadowrun Trilogy and BattleTech, The Lamplighters League is an original pulp adventure set in an alternate 1930s, challenging players to use a mix of realtime infiltration, tactical turn-based combat, and team management to thwart the plans of the Banished Court, a tyrannical cult on the cusp of world domination. The best of the best are all gone, so now it’s up to the best of the worst! The Lamplighters League will be available on October 3 this year.

Lightyear Frontier Shows Off Its Mech-Based Multiplayer Farming

Join Kelly, Carolina, Sebastian, and Anita as they start their homestead together on the Lightyear Frontier, complete with an overhauled new design for the mech! At the beginning of a new dawn, follow their journeys as they split up for different tasks.

Throughout the day, you’ll see them rejoining each other to gather resources, farm alien crops, construct buildings, and explore the wilds of the Frontier. In their explorations, they discover a hidden ancient structure, seeking answers to the questions around the planet’s past.

Cult Horror Game Phasmophobia to Haunt Xbox Soon

Phasmophobia is now coming to the Xbox Series X|S in August 2023. Phasmophobia is a 4-player, online co-op, psychological horror game. You and your team of paranormal investigators will enter haunted locations filled with paranormal activity and try to gather as much evidence as you can. Use your ghost-hunting equipment to find and record evidence to sell on to a ghost removal team.

ID@Xbox Reveals 10 Games Coming to Game Pass

An ID@Xbox montage showed off 10 new games coming through our indie program, all of which will come to Game Pass on their Xbox launch day. The games included were: Galacticare, Techtonica, Another Crab’s Treasure, The Wandering Village, Neon White, Harold Halibut, Mineko’s Night Market, The Bookwalker, Sea of Stars and Little Kitty, Big City.

ID@Xbox Developer Accelerator Program Introduces Its Games

We announced the ID@Xbox Developer Accelerator Program earlier this year, with a key mission to bring games to life from underrepresented creators through funding, support, and more. Today, in Xbox Games Showcase Extended, we showed 11 of the games that have already come through the program: Despelote, Drag Her!, El Paso, Elsewhere, Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical, Naiad, Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To, Island of Winds, Sonzai, Psychroma, Botany Manor, and Slime Heroes. You can find out more about every single one – and the people who made them –in our full rundown on Xbox Wire.

Updates Coming Soon

The Elder Scrolls Online – Time for New Players to Check Out Necrom

The Elder Scrolls Online Creative Director Rich Lambert and Art Director CJ Grebb break down footage of the latest Necrom Chapter and discuss all the reasons why ESO and the latest Chapter is worth jumping into today for new and returning players. The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom is now available on Consoles & PC/ Mac.

Fallout 76 – Once in a Blue Moon Trailer

Gather ‘round the campfire and watch Bethesda Games Studios newest trailer for the upcoming Fallout 76 update, Once in a Blue Moon, launching on June 20 across all platforms. Brave two new Public Events, Safe and Sound and Beasts of Burden, uncover the Blue Devil and the Ogua,

two new cryptids spotted in Appalachia and much more in this free update for all Fallout 76 players.

Hi-Fi Rush – Arcade Challenge! Update!

Announced

Tango Gameworks revealed their hit game HiFi Rush will be getting new content next month, with the Arcade Challenge! Update! This update will include a variety of new content, including two new game modes: BMP RUSH! and Power Up! Tower Up!, featuring new music as well as a grab bag of new player customizations and Special Attacks. The Arcade Challenge! Update!

will be coming on July 5, free for all players who already own the game. Hi-Fi Rush is available now on Xbox Series X|S and PC.

So there we have it, the final showcase to this amazing summer of events. We are very excited to see what the future holds for gaming and we can’t thank all the teams involved in all these wonderful showcases enough. It’s been an absolute blast and the hype train keeps on moving! We hope you have enjoyed all of our recaps over the summer as we will continue to update you with more gaming news in the future.

xbox returns to tokyo game show 2023

The CESA has revealed that Tokyo Game Show will use the entirety of the Makuhari Messe venue for the first time in four years, and Xbox will be attending. Xbox will be attending the Tokyo Game Show again this year, which will be taking place between September 21 to September 24. The Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA) has also confirmed that the show will use the entirety of the Makuhari Messe for the first time in four years. This year, the CESA will be allowing international visitors and children under 12 to attend the Tokyo Game Show, for the first time since the pandemic began, as well as offering family-friendly exhibition areas. This year’s event looks like it will be a busy four days as well, with Xbox, Capcom, Bandai Namco, Koei Tecmo, Konami, HoyoVerse, Sega, Square Enix, and more already named on the exhibitor list.

Xbox appeared during the Tokyo Game Show last year, revealing a slew of games coming to Game Pass, including Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Deathloop, Guilty Gear Strive, Fuga: Melodies of Steel, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmoney, and more. While we’ll have to wait until the showcase to learn about this year’s slate, we’re excited to see what Xbox has in store for us this year! As reported by VGC, the CESA has revealed that for the first time in four years, the Tokyo Game Show will cover the entirety of the Makuhari Messe. Last year’s show used only a small portion of the venue. “Despite these restrictions, the venue was filled with exhibitors and game fans who had been waiting for the show to be held for real, and the excitement returned to Makuhari Messe,” the CESA said. “The high evaluation of the exhibition by exhibitors and visitors alike made us realize once again the high demand and importance of holding a real exhibition under any circumstances.”

“Despite these restrictions, the venue was filled with exhibitors and game fans who had been waiting for the show to be held for real, and the excitement returned to Makuhari Messe,” the CESA said. “The high evaluation of the exhibition by exhibitors and visitors alike made us realize once again the high demand and importance of holding a real exhibition under any circumstances.”

As for other events this year, Microsoft has confirmed that Xbox and Bethesda will be attending Gamescom in August, just over a week before Starfield launches on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Xbox Game Pass.

no more new releases for xbox one...

Microsoft has confirmed that it has ended development on Xbox One games to focus purely on Xbox Series X|S titles. Xbox One players will still be able to cloud stream certain first-party Xbox Series X|S games to their consoles, however.

“We’ve moved on to Gen 9,” Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty told Axios, adding that Xbox One players will still be provided with the ability to access first party titles like Forza Motorsport via Xbox Cloud Gaming.

“That’s how we’re going to maintain support,” Booty stated, referring to Xbox Cloud Gaming for Xbox One, accessed through a subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Booty also noted that Xbox has “turned the corner” in its endeavour to bring more first-party games to market. Forza Motorsport is out on 10th October, joining the likes of Microsoft Flight Simulator as big Xbox Series X|S games that can be cloud streamed on an Xbox One. Microsoft no longer developing native Xbox One games comes more than a year on from the platform-holder announcing that it has stopped making Xbox One consoles.

metal gear solid master collection vol 1 update

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 showed off some gameplay back in late June, and Konami even revealed its release date.

The collection will be out 24th October, 2023. It will include the mainline entries Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (presumably also the expanded version, Subsistence).

Along with those, the collection also features Metal Gear, both the MSX2 and the NES versions; Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake; the non-canonical Western version of that game, Snake’s Revenge; and both digital graphic novels. Along with soundtracks. Presumably Vol 2., whenever that comes out, may feature the likes of Portable Ops, Peace Walker, and, so long as we are willing to get non-canonical, the underrated Metal Gear Acid.

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 is coming to Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Switch, and PC.

Exoprimal is quite frankly a bizarre and crazy game. Exoprimal is An online-only 5v5 multiplayer shooter that launches with a single core mode, Exoprimal has you playing as a rookie exofighter for a corporation called Aibius, formed to combat mysterious outbreaks of dinosaur precipitation. Yes, somehow, longextinct prehistoric creatures have found their way through a wormhole or something and are now appearing in our world (albeit a near future 2043 version of our world), via midair ructions of purple goo. It’s all rather odd, and, after a few hours of playing, all rather repetitive, too, despite the raining dinosaurs.

As the newest member of the Hammerheads squad, you’re dragged into ‘the wargame’ constructed by a sadistic AI known as Leviathan. So obsessed with gathering combat data is Leviathan, that it’s happy to put you in harm’s way time and again, rewarding you with “bonus existence” for your efforts. “Fight and die for me,” it ominously requests before sending you to the epicentre of all the dinosaur action, to blast through endless swathes of raptors, T. rexes, triceratopses, ankylosauruses, pteranodons, and, later on, blobby neosaur beasts whose glowing pustules explode during their death throes.

At the heart of Exoprimal is Dino Survivalthe game’s one and only mode. Dino Survival primarily comprises a series of ‘Dinosaur Cull’ missions, which, as you’d expect, involve shooting through a target number of dinos before you’re allowed to progress to the next bit. The twist here is that your squad of five exofighters go head to head with a rival squad, racing against time to complete the set objectives as quickly as possible. Each section is punctuated by Leviathan telling you whether you’re completing your mission faster or slower than the opposing team, giving you a moment to see the rival team as red apparitions, lagging behind or storming ahead.

Tying everything together is a story featuring your fellow Hammerheads, Chief, Alders, Majesty, and Sandy, as you, Ace, return from your latest Dino Survival wargame with new data to share. Gradually, you’ll piece together how Exoprimal’s prehistoric phenomenon came to be isolated to the game’s setting of Bikitoa Island, through cutscenes and nuggets of lost data, although ultimately none of it really matters – it’s all highly skippable stuff that does little to enhance the core dino-shooting experience. More interesting are the rewards you unlock as you level up, be it additional exosuit colours and variants or other cosmetics (weapon skins, emotes, emblems, stamps) from War Chests, or new rigs and modules to outfit your chosen exosuit with.

Modules include bonus health, more efficient health regeneration, faster weapon reloading, enhanced attacks . . . that sort of thing. Rigs, meanwhile, are powerful weapons with a lengthy cooldown that can be fitted to any exosuit, be it a railgun cannon, a boostjumping catapult, deployable shield, healing aid, drill fist, or throwable Frisbee blade thingy. Rigs and modules offer a nice dose of variety, enabling you to mix things up, while a hangar housing ten different exosuits (three of which are locked off until you’re sufficiently levelled up, or accessed early via the Deluxe Edition) allow you to chop and change as you see fit. Being able to jump out of your exosuit and into another at any time during a session is a nice touch.

Each exosuit has its own distinct look, feel, and set of abilities, from the all-rounder Deadeye to the raw brute force of the Krieger, or deft healing power of the Witchdoctor. There’s an exosuit for every type of player, and more than ample scope for experimentation across Assault, Tank, and Support classes. Teamwork proves to be paramount, too, and

it seems to come naturally in Exoprimal, the entire experience remarkably well balanced and properly geared towards forcing you to work together. You’ve no choice but to pull your weight and do your bit, otherwise defeat is a foregone conclusion - teamwork is implicit.

Working together quickly and efficiently means reaching the final objective ahead of the opposing team, which can prove to be a major advantage. And although the action can grow a mite repetitive after tens of hours of blasting dinos, Capcom knows exactly when to introduce a few new dino species, or chuck in a different assigned objective to complete. Undoubtedly, Exoprimal is a well put together multiplayer experience, then, but it’s exactly the sort of thing you’d expect to be free-to-

play (which is why it’s the perfect Xbox Game Pass game). The production values are superb, and, again, this is further evidence that it’s impossible to make a bad-looking game using Capcom’s RE Engine.

Nonetheless, Exoprimal’s lifespan hinges entirely on whether you’re willing to wait for additional modes down the line because the base game doesn’t provide nearly enough to keep you hooked long-term. An accomplished and polished team-based shooter it might be, but, in its current state, Exoprimal is about as barebones as the dinosaur skeletons you’ll find at your local natural history museum, and should Capcom fail to provide adequate support (bring on Season 1, later this month), we can see this going extinct pretty sharpish.

Overall TGG Rating

An impeccably made multiplayer dino shooter, Exoprimal has all of the right stuff, but, with only a single mode to play over and over again, it can quite get repetitive rather quickly.

7/10

Audio

7/10

Somewhat okay tunes that soon fade into the background, perfectly fine voice work, perfectly loud and explosive sound effects and dino roaring. Perfectly fine.

Visuals

8/10

Capcom’s RE Engine does the job once again, ensuring that Exoprimal looks quite marvellous as it spawns hundreds of prehistoric beasties into its world..

Playability

8/10

An immediate, pick-up-and-play shooter that proves consistently enjoyable, even after tens of hours of gameplay. Each exosuit is distinct, helping to mix things up.

Delivery

6/10

At launch, Exoprimal has only one mode, and the story isn’t exactly compelling enough to pull you through. Thankfully, the gameplay will keep you coming back.

Version tested: Xbox Series X

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

A generic start to the game which goes as a horror norm which is someone investigating panicked screams all by themselves. The prologue begins with us venturing below deck to look into the commotion we saw on the failing security cameras, bringing nothing but a torch and some goodwill. We find face huggers wrapping their tails around people’s necks, hatched eggs twisting the environment around them, and eventually, a lone xenomorph hunting for prey. They’re so terrifyingly strong that all we can do is hide, sneaking around to the exit— the game is teaching us to use the shadows and cover to our advantage. One xenomorph is that much of a threat. But five minutes later, it’s asking us to gun down a horde of them.

Dark Descent never manages to strike a balance between its tactical mechanics and the ill-fitting survival horror. It’s a strategy game unashamedly inspired by XCOM 2 to the point of feeling like a spin-off and like XCOM the focus is on squad-based action.

The hub is a ship in orbit of an infested planet and our missions task us with venturing to alien hotspots and clearing out eggs and xenomorphs while rescuing any survivors. That means we spend a lot of our time planting sentry turrets, lobbing grenades, and engaging in huge gunfights, none of which fits with the Alien: Isolation-like stealth we’re taught right at the beginning.

The horror-driven mechanics feel half-baked and out of place. Detection lines can be cheesed as you move in and out of cover which rips away tension as it becomes an awkward dance with an alien who is nowhere near as smart as they should be, crouching behind cover when an enemy looks your way is a comical display of four troops ducking at the same time and the stress level feature, which amounts to little more than a difficulty modifier, If your marines get too scared and you fail to take care of them or avoid unnecessary encounters they’ll be flooded with debuffs like “-1 maximum command point for every 2 Disobedient Marines”. Stress levels can also be reduced through consumable items, which cheapens the effect, turning it into more of a second health bar.

Dark Descent is at its strongest when you’re completing objectives and getting into gunfights. Certain tasks will have you defending a key point, like a download for information, so you have to hold the fort in awkwardly laidout rooms as you wait. I would typically weld up as many doors as possible to bottleneck xenomorphs down a corridor laden with sentry turrets and suppressive fire, shotgun blasting any that came too close. The mix of individual marine abilities and engineering tools is an interesting way to transform each encounter into a puzzle, finding the best way to turn the environment to your advantage.

Aesthetically, the environments are perfect. The top-down impersonal camera rips away much of the horror, especially as face huggers and eggs become red blips to shoot at, but each zone oozes NASA-punk with functional industrial settlements stretched across dusty and inhospitable planets. Everything is laid out in grids for that exact reason, which makes it intuitive to find your way through each zone, even if there are multiple levels. The map itself also becomes part of your toolkit, as you can use motion sensors to capture aliens on the move, which can make for some tense moments as you scramble to prepare for a gunfight out in the open. After a while, though, I realised how much easier it was to lob grenades and run, since so many of the tools in your arsenal will easily overpower the xenomorphs.

It’s hard to find the fun in Dark Descent when it’s riddled with performance issues. It crashed four times within the first 20 minutes, and continued to crash throughout my entire playthrough, plunging my progress back each time as I relied on uncertain autosaves. Anytime even a few particles found themselves on screen, the entire game would stutter, and

this was while playing on low graphics with an RTX 3070 card. Even the cutscenes are riddled with problems as they have poor lip-syncing and inaccurate subtitles, making an already generic and uninteresting narrative even more of a slog.

Outside of missions, you’ll spend most of your time in the hub, which is nearly the exact same as XCOM’s, albeit with much less to do. The one key difference is the Psychiatric Care Unit. Your troops can develop ‘trauma’ during missions, so the solution is to pop them into a circular room with paintings of a forest on the wall. Trauma becomes a debuff that you can iron out with the right choices, and long-term side effects can be squashed with rousing speeches of machoism.

Mental health should never be a minor footnote in a thinly-veiled difficulty modifier, treating it like an issue that can be tactically removed in mere days. Dark Descent does next to nothing to explore the themes of sending soldiers on repeated suicide missions, so its tackling of mental health comes across as exploitative and out of touch. It’s only there to serve a function, nothing more.

Overall TGG Rating

Dark Descent is a generic XCOM clone with brief moments of engaging puzzle-piecing strategy. The horror is underused and feels wholly out of place as it pushes you further and further into action. Music is adrenaline-pumping and clearly designed to complement firefights, troops yell ‘LET’S GO TEAM’ every time you move, and xenomorphs are easier to mow down than avoid. Nothing about Dark Descent wants you to be scared, but everything about Aliens does. Mix of performance issues and thin mechanics.

6/10

Audio 7/10

Overall the Music is adrenaline-pumping and clearly designed to complement firefights, the troops you control are verbally active with great phrases thrown in during a firefight.

Visuals

6/10

Not as gritty and dark as a horror should be with a lot of the areas darkened off until you can make it to them, cutscenes had some tear with a mix of performance issues and thin mechanics.

Playability

6/10

A lot of outside missions from the hub you are in with separate tasks and things to do, a care unit to play around in for your squad but once your done it feels a little empty to play.

Delivery

6/10

This game came out of nowhere for us to the point we didn’t realise it was coming out which is a shame and we hope this game isn’t slept on, overall if you like a somewhat horror vibe and a top down click and play RTS then this is for you but for us this is another disappointing entry in the catalogue of Alien games.

Version tested: Xbox Series X

(Review code provided to us by: https://www.indigopearl.com/)

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

In-house Square Enix studio Creative Unit III has nailed its colours to the mast, going all-in on mediaeval-style fantasy, and it looks incredible. Crucially, it plays like an absolute dream, too, thanks to combat that’s deceptively simple, but unbelievably crunchy and gratifying. As ever, FF purists might blanch at the lack of turn-based combat, but who cares when it’s this good.

You play as Clive Rosfield, former shield of Rosaria, and a man who suddenly finds himself without a place to call home, in the wake of a violent tragedy. Final Fantasy XVI has you embarking upon a quest for revenge. Thirteen years on from that fateful day, we find Clive working with a ragtag Imperial platoon known as ‘The Bastards’ – a band of outcast ‘Bearers’ (people born with the ability to use magic, universally despised and exploited as slaves), derogatorily referred to as ‘Branded’, due to the sigil marking on the left side of their faces. Before long, Clive finds himself buddied up with Cidolfus (Cid, voiced with gravelly gusto by Ralph Ineson), holed up in a secret place known only as The Hideaway, which serves as your hub. Bearing the Brand himself, Clive finds himself vilified and subject to bigotry.

It’s at The Hideaway you’ll find a surly merchant, an even surlier blacksmith, and fellow Bearers who’ve taken refuge. As events unfold and FF XVI’s narrative gradually unfurls, The Hideaway grows into a bustling base of operations: a place where you can read missives from across the realm of Valisthea, consult the hunt board for fearsome monsters to track down, or check in on the current state of the realm, as armies mobilise and encroach upon other territories. With the world at war and a blight engulfing certain regions, everyone is understandably quite downtrodden – none more than Clive himself, who moves through the game with a permanent scowl etched onto his face.

And who can blame him? Clive goes through an awful lot during the course of Final Fantasy XVI’s sprawling journey, none of which we’re going to spoil here. Suffice it to say, that scowl is entirely warranted – Valisthea is a dark and unforgiving place. Taken under Cid’s wing, you’ll fight for a world in which it “doesn’t matter what you are, but who you are,” starting with petty skirmishes with goblins before increasing in scope, until you’re going head-to-head with colossal dragons and other towering creatures. This being a realm in which so-called ‘Dominants’ play host to ‘Eikons’ (FF XVI’s summons, essentially), boss battles take place on a truly grand scale, and it’s during these dramatic moments that the game will have you tightly clutching your DualSense.

Square Enix has lost one of its penchant for the epic and cinematic, even going so far as to highlight QTE instances as ‘Cinematic Clash’, ‘Cinematic Strike’, or ‘Cinematic Dodge’, as the scenario dictates. It’s the minute-tominute combat that really dazzles, though, its designer Ryota Suzuki leveraging his years of experience on the likes of Devil May Cry and Dragon’s Dogma. No wonder he’s referred to FF XVI’s combat as his “personal masterpiece” - it’s sublime. Being able to dodge and parry (the latter temporarily slowing time), as well as whittle down an enemy’s Will Gauge to stagger them, and command Clive’s wolf Torgal, setting him upon targets (sic ‘em Torgal!), ensures that encounters are invariably exciting. Using Phoenix Shift to tear across the battlefield keeps foes close, while later abilities add more spells to mix things up, keeping the action consistently fresh and stimulating. Some skills are game-changers, altering the way you approach each battle.

It’s something of a shame, then, that the story fails to keep pace with the quality of the

gameplay. A mid-section lull sees Clive and Torgal (and other party members who drift in and out of the story) traipsing from pillar to post, carrying out fairly dull fetch quests and other rudimentary tasks. Side quests fall into this same category, usually sending you off on some thankless errand to collect suchand-such, then bring it back to The Hideaway or some other NPC. Completing side quests, hunts, and other optional content earns Clive renown, which can then be redeemed at The Hideaway’s ‘Patron’s Whisper’ counter, where grateful quest-givers reward your efforts with unique items. This side content is not for nothing, then, but given the propulsion with which the main story mostly plays out (save for the odd stretch of busywork), side quests can often end up putting the brakes on the story’s momentum. Sometimes, they can seem surplus to requirements.

Mercifully, discovering waymarker Obelisks allow you to fast travel all over Valisthea, and you’ll eventually unlock a Chocobo steed to help you get around a little quicker. There’s no question that Final Fantasy XVI is enormous, but in eschewing an open world design, it oddly feels narrower in scope, quick navigation across the world map aided immeasurably by those aforementioned Obelisks. Choose only to follow the story, and the game can also seem rather linear – seldom are you really let loose and given free rein to get lost in exploration, nor is there all that much to actually explore off the beaten path. There’s no management required for your party either – you need only arm Clive

with the best possible sword, belt, vambraces, and accessories, then you’re off on your merry way.

While it seems like Final Fantasy XVI is missing something, with narrative twists that fail to hit the mark, pacing problems, a world that can feel disconnected, and a bizarre lack of ethnic diversity in its characters that can prove distracting, there’s still so much to love here. The story is dark, gritty, and uncompromisingly sweary. The lore is deep and complex (and easily pored over at the touch of a button). The array of thick regional British accents is never not enjoyable. And the versatile combat mechanics and upgradeable abilities are terrific, further enhanced as Clive absorbs new Eikonic magic – you can have any three of these equipped at any one time, enabling you to choose which Eikon abilities best suit your playstyle.

Valisthea is home to some truly spectacular sights, too, be it the vertiginous alabasterwalled Imperial palace of Oriflamme or the crimson Drake’s Breath Mothercrystal piercing the roiling gloom-laden skies in the Iron Kingdom. The sense of scale at work is never anything short of breathtaking, while the attention to detail is astonishing – this is every inch the RPG epic, despite its handful of minor shortcomings. Grim, engaging, and relentlessly dark, Final Fantasy XVI marks the series venturing into more mature territory, and, for the most part, it’s utterly glorious.

Overall TGG Rating

A remarkable feat, Final Fantasy XVI looks incredible and plays like a wonderful dream, the combat in particular being exemplary. There are some moments when the action lulls, but this does little to detract from a game that veers close to being a masterwork.

8.5/10

Audio 9/10

A sweeping orchestral and choral score that lends gravitas to Final Fantasy XVI’s drama. There’s even a bit of synth and electronica in the mix, too. Voice acting is excellent across the board, with a lovely mix of strong regional accents to enjoy, ya bastard.

Visuals 9/10

Jaw-dropping vistas are in abundance, from the grand castles of Rosaria to the pristine sands and glittering oases of the Velkroy Desert, or the verdant expanses of Orabelle Downs. FF XVI’s realm of Valisthea is quite the place to behold, while the cinematic boss battles will make your eyes pop.

Playability 8/10

Few combat systems are as intuitive, elegant, and gratifying as this. The more Eikon abilities Clive acquires, the more intricate and exciting it becomes, too. As the first Final Fantasy to fully embrace real-time combat, this stands out as an unbridled triumph.

Delivery 8/10

While the lack of open world design makes for a slightly more linear experience, there’s plenty of game here, and it’s all beautifully presented. Side quests are hit and miss, and the absence of options for Clive’s party is a tad disappointing. Still, with New Game+, training scenarios in the Hall of Virtue, an Arcade Mode with high score leaderboards, and Stage Replay all accessed via The Hideaway’s Arete Stone, you’ll be playing for countless hours.

Version tested: Playstation 5

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

nerdy up north!

Nerdy up north is a safe space free from the toxcity and negativity that social media and fandoms can be. They embrace everyone’s passion and encourage people to come out of the shell and express their inner nerds. We sat down with Paul, who is the founder of Nerdy Up North, to find out just what inspired him to create such an awesome community!

Hey! First, we would like to thank you for chatting with us today. How have you been lately?

Hey, thanks for inviting me to this chat. I’m good, very busy but it’s very exciting. We recently did a panel on the main stage at SunnyCon Anime Expo where we performed the podcast in front of around 200 to 300 people. Which was so surreal.

That sound incredible! We’ll talk more about that later! But before that, let’s start with a little bit about yourself. Who is the person behind Nerdy Up North?

I’ve been called many things since I started Nerdy Up North my name is Paul, a northern lad that loves movies and talking about The Goonies too much. I have a background in graphic design, and I’ve been a nerd all my life.

Well we’re really excited to have you here, Paul! Are there other people behind the community that you would like to mention?

There are a few special people, and I will get in trouble if I forget anyone. To start with, Sammie is my co-host and ride or die friend who has supported me from the start. I have a team of mods; Nichole, Amanda and Kelly that keep an eye on the group and back each other up. Jake runs the Twitch channel and helps out with the tech. We have Captain Goodwill and Science Officer Synoiz who run the Trekkin Up North podcast for us that is growing internationally. Sammie also runs another podcast called Monsters Up North which she hosts with Dan from another Facebook page called Bleading

Marvelous and that is so much fun. Last but not least the famous Donna who if I’m honest, the group or the team wouldn’t be where we are without her. She keeps us level-headed, motivated and has the best ideas. There are so many people I could mention from our Discord nerds, to the regulars and new friends we have made since starting the group.

Wow, what a team! They sound awesome. What made you want to start Nerdy Up North and how did it start?

During lockdown I’ll admit I was struggling with the isolation and loneliness. I was looking to do something creative to break up the day-to-day routine that was driving me nuts. Then I saw a friend’s post on Facebook, about how she was going to introduce her young kids to my favourite movie of all time, The Goonies. She had bought him a Superman top like one of the characters in the movie wore and she took photos of their experience of the movie. I just thought that was amazing and loved that it was shared with everyone too. I realised I missed having those conversations in the pub with my friends about movies, TV shows, games and even music. I looked online and I could find elements or groups about separate topics but there wasn’t much to combine everything and that’s where the idea started.

It’s so lovely that such a great community grew from a moment so nice. The community has grown significantly since it first started. How did you deal with it growing so quickly?

Panic at first but you adapt and change your

approach to a lot of things. Having the right people support you and having clear guidelines for what is acceptable and what isn’t helps with the rise in new members.

It’s always important to have good friends around to support you! Have you ever had the moment of looking at the community and thinking “We’ve made it”?

Not yet, I haven’t had that moment yet. I have had a lot of highlights since we started but for where we are and where I want to be, we are still far away. I do have my eye on one of those golden YouTube buttons one day.

Well it looks like you are definitely heading that way! Your podcast is quite a big focus in your community. What made you want to start one?

I didn’t want to; I was forced into by Sammie. The podcast was her idea and I wanted nothing to do with it at first. I’m not the most confident of people but once we got started it’s one of the most addictive things I have done and it’s so rewarding. One of the big things we try to promote is non-toxic fans and we try to be positive about anything we talk about. The internet is full of negativity and I really didn’t want to add to that energy.

Well we’re glad Sammie convinced you to do it! It’s extremely entertaining! Do you have any advice for someone wanting to start a podcast?

Do it. Have as much fun with it as possible. Don’t try to be anything other than yourself. When you fake it everyone can tell. Also get the right people behind you and support you.

Solid advice. We hear that you have gained some attention from comic cons for panels and even the BBC! How has that been for you?

Exciting and intimidating at times. I think we all have that imposter syndrome inside ourselves. I love that people get what we are doing and that the content is actually really good. If I do say so myself. The panels, radio spots and

interviews like this have been great for getting our name out there. We’re thankful for every opportunity we get.

Hopefully there will be plenty more to come as well! Have you ever considered expanding to other comic cons? Maybe representing the north at London or Midlands shows?

I would love to, I think with the direction we’re going in that’s something I am seriously interested in being involved in. I would love to open those doors and take them opportunities. With the Star Trek podcast doing so well in America, Captain Goodwill has been asked to be involved in a convention in Long Island next year with an American podcast team called Spectrum Sanctorum that have been fans of Nerdy Up North for a while now.

That’s incredible that you have already expanded to the US! Can you think of some top moments you’ve had with your community?

I think I’ll do a few bullet points here:

• The first live panel at SunnyCon where we smashed it.

• We had an amazing guest Holly K Golightly on the podcast, who is an amazing artist who works on archie comics.

• We had Hollywood producer Mark Cartier on the Trekkin Up North podcast

• We did a live charity podcast where we talked about anything and everything for 12 hrs and raised £600 for a local cat shelter.

• Meeting loads of nerds that I prob would never have met without Nerdy Up North

• Being compared to a cult*

*Disclaimer - we’re not actually a cult

You heard it here first, not a cult! Nerdy Up North is geared towards all things nerdy, but what sort of focus do you have on gaming?

We embrace gaming a lot. We have a dedicated Twitch channel where we all take turns playing

a variety of things. From serious games like Uncharted and The Last of Us to more lighthearted ones like Mario and Pokémon. We also try and arrange a community game night or day every so often. And our discord runs their own game nights too where anyone is welcome to join.

A community game night sounds fun! Maybe we can try and make the next one! Bit more of a personal question, what are YOUR top 3 favourite games?

We did a top 5 games episode of the podcast a long time ago and it’s always so hard to do but here goes. In no particular order: Batman: Arkham Asylum, The Last of Us and Gears of War.

Excellent choices, I must say. Do you have a game that you think other people NEED to play at least once?

Batman Arkham Asylum – it’s got everything from an amazing story, great action and is just a fun ride from start to finish.

Can confirm it is an excellent game. Is Nerdy Up North your full-time gig? How do you manage creating content with Nerdy Up North, and your other job? What advice can you give to those struggling to maintain a good balance between the two?

It feels like a full-time gig, we run the Facebook page which is getting close to 15k followers. The Facebook community, Instagram, twitter, YouTube and twitch it takes up a lot of time. I have a great team that helps with a lot of the

stuff. The dream is to run Nerdy Up North full time and not have a separate job but at the moment we are still starting out and growing. It’s very exciting and scary at the same time. I do have a very understanding wife so that does help. The advice I would give anyone is to simply enjoy and have as much fun as possible so it doesn’t feel like you have 2 full time jobs.

Fingers crossed you will be able to do this full time some day! Have you ever considered sponsorships for your podcast/community as a whole?

It’s something we have thought about, but we run everything on a low budget at the moment. When we try to grow, sponsorship is something we would be interested in.

Well the right sponsorship may come along soon! Finally, is there any upcoming Nerdy Up North news, project, events etc. you would like to tell people about?

We have so many ideas and things we want to do, we are reaching out to try and get some interesting guests on board and try to grow and learn from other people too. So watch this space and of course, stay nerdy everyone.

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us! We look forward to putting this in our magazine and sharing your community even further!

If you are interested in joining the Nerdy Up North community, check out their socials below!

Facebook: @NerdyUpNorth

Twitch: @nerdyupnorth

YouTube: @NerdyUpNorth

Ralphyy

David, better known as “RALPHYY”, is a Twitch Streamer, YouTuber, and Tik Tok content creator based in the UK. His content has a strong focus on First-Person Shooter (FPS) games, with him having clocked over 2000 hours in Rainbow Six Siege alone. In addition to this, his passion and in-game knowledge has led to an invitation to the official Rainbow Six Siege community leaders programme “Siege Champions” - mean- ing he has early access to upcoming operations and a direct communication line with Ubisoft to help nurture and grow the Rainbow Six com- munity. Over the past 7 years, he has grown his presence on Twitch and managed to carve out his own section of the platform where hundreds of unique viewers stop by every stream. Ralphyy boasts a supportive following who tune in to watch competitive gameplay paired with his classic chill demeanour.

Hey Ralphyy, First of all, we would like to thank you for chatting with us today. How have you been?

I’ve been good, thank you. Busy with my day job, which is keeping my brain active and busy in my spare time planning my content and the direction I would like to take it!

That sounds great, it’s always good to be busy right! So, let’s start from the beginning, tell us a little bit about your streaming & Content Creation life, how long have you been streaming/making content and what made you want to start?

So, I started streaming back in 2015 playing CSGO. Originally it was just a way for me to record my gameplay somewhere I could access later, I had no intent on taking it seriously when I started. But as time went on people started to come in and show interest, and even started to come back for the next stream.

Things really kicked off with the release of R6 Siege, I got to play it early at EGX 2015 and from there I was hooked. I knew if I was going to start putting time into streaming, I wanted it to be on that.

That’s great to hear and that’s a fair few years so it’s great to see you have stuck it out and it’s going so well for you. We see your main streaming focus is being an FPS streamer, how come you chose this specific type of streaming?

At the start I probably would have considered myself a variety streamer. I played R6, CSGO, GTA, Battlefield, Maplestory, Division, Final Fantasy and loads of others but no game seemed to pull in the viewers like R6 did. I slowly built a community around it and just stuck to it. I’m almost too scared at this point to move away from it or even just spend less time on it.

Everyone finds their niche and it’s great to see that R6 really picked up for you. On the subject of FPS games, what would be your all-time favourite FPS Game?

This will surprise a lot of people that know me but I think I have to say Battlefield 2. I didn’t spend half as much time on it as I have on more recent games but I sunk a good amount of hours into it and it was just a fun game to play. It was one of those games that win or lose it didn’t matter, you were caught up in the gameplay as it was happening and you just played it to play it, if you lose then just load up the next game and go again. It was also a great game to play with friends and I met so many awesome people there that I still talk to today, you could just have fun without anyone not in your squad getting angry.

I really didn’t expect that to be honest, as great as the game is though it’s the first time someone has said BF2, it is great to see you enjoyed it so much and built great friendships playing such a great game. What would be your all-time top 3 games?

This is a hard one, being 32 I’ve played A LOT of games and it’s difficult to put my finger on just 3. I think if I had to pick it would be:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

2. Rainbow Six: Siege

3. Final Fantasy VIII

Zelda I grew up playing on the N64 and has stuck with me for life throughout the years and series, I’ve even got 2 tattoos to represent it. Rainbow Six because I’ve spent the past 8 years playing the game and have had some amazing opportunities as a player and also a content creator come about because of it. And Final Fantasy because I love the series but something about the characters in VIII and the storyline just hit me and stuck with me, I could play it over and over again.

Hey I feel you man being 30 myself there’s tons of games to add to the list, I can see why Zelda is up there it is a fantastic game, always has and will be, the youth of today have no idea what they missed. If you could only play one game for the rest of your life, what game would that be and why?

Again, this is a really hard question. There are so many games I loved growing up but I’ve played them now and have the memories I don’t think I could play them again and get the same experience. So I think I’d have to go with R6 Siege as I’ve sunk the last 8 years into it and it’s ALWAYS evolving with a new season every 3 months bringing in new content and changing up how the game is played. The games I played as a kid I feel like they were awesome during the moment and I wouldn’t want to play them now and have them ruined if they aren’t as fun.

We expected Siege to be there given the sheer experience you have on that game, we totally get you with the older games so masterpieces back in the day are just pure garbage to play now (Goldeneye). We noticed you play a lot of Rainbow Six Siege, Please tell us what you think about the game and what got you into playing?

Back in 2015 I attended EGX and they had this

stage set up where you could try out this new game. You would go round the back and play on Xbox and if you won a certain amount of games you would be brought up onto the main stage to play against the “pros”.

I was with 4 other friends in the queue and we had waited for a while, but funnily enough we were all wearing Asus hats that we got from their stand. I think the guy in charge thought we all worked for Asus and as they had no team currently on the main stage got us up to play these pros. Now bear in mind me and my friends were PC players and they stuck us on Xbox controllers. I think we managed to secure 2 rounds, but we got absolutely destroyed. After we finished, we were given access to the Beta when it started, and I’ve been playing ever since! It’s an amazing game that you can play regardless of your play style. If you want to be competitive you can and if you want to chill and have fun, you can. It’s so adaptable!

I love to hear the passion for Siege it’s great you got to experience that back at EGX 2015, i personally was a sucker for the Rainbow Six Vegas games never managed to get into Siege but i see how big of a game it is so it’s great to see the love for it as it’s not often a topic here at TGG. We see that you’re a part of the org FNATIC please do tell our readers how you came to join this org and who they are?

Fnatic are a UK based organisation and probably one of the oldest currently in Europe. They have pro teams in League of Legends, CS:GO, Valorant, R6 Siege and Fifa. They are probably more known for Valorant at the moment as they are dominating the scene after just winning the VCT Masters Tokyo.

I reached out to the Network team about joining as a content creator as they had a Siege team and had a few back and forths with the team and luckily got an invite to join. It’s difficult to make content with the Siege team as they are based in APAC so for now I just collaborate with FNATIC as an org and get support from them with anything I need to improve my content. Hopefully one day in the future I’ll get to play some games with the players and make some content with them!

Ah great to hear and insight in the team as we seem the org pop up everywhere i’m sure our readers do too and it’s great to hear more. We noticed that you were nominated as one of Ubisoft’s Star players, please tell us what this means to receive this title and how did you come across this?

As a “Star Player” I get a direct communication link to Ubisoft in which I receive support and assets to assist me in the content I create for their games. I’ll also get early access to seasons coming up and the chance to get hands on with upcoming games releasing. The Star Player program is a lot different now compared to how it used to be as it has relaunched as Star Player 2.0 but can’t go too much into detail as I still am waiting for more information as to what that involves myself.

I was originally part of the “Siege Champions Program” which was a small group of creators chosen to represent their corresponding regions as “Community Leaders” within Siege. Unfortunately this only lasted just over a year but as they took it down they invited us all into the Star Player program so now we are involved in all games, not just Siege.

Man you keep getting into those small groups, showing some serious talent right there, thank you for giving us an insight to this program, it’s good to see Ubisoft offering such things like this for certain creators as it will go far in the long run. At what point did you think “Damn, I could really make a career out of gaming and creating content”?

I don’t think I’ve ever thought I could make a career out of content, I definitely have thought “what if” though. Since starting back in 2015 I’ve always worked full time, I think it’s always been a hobby for me, and I think it will continue to be. I’m not in it for the money at all, I just enjoy streaming and creating content but I have always said if I was to make it a career it would need to pay more than my day job does.

Which unfortunately I don’t see happening, I tried twice throughout my career during my two redundancies but it never picked up. But

I’ve come to terms with this and just enjoy creating and providing a space for my community or anyone new to come and chill out and have fun.

That’s a great way to put it, we personally think you’re doing great and glad you can balance the two as we are sure your community would be at a loss if you didn’t continue creating content. When was the point in your career where you thought “I’ve made it’’? or what will make you feel like this has happened?

I think when I was asked by Ubisoft to join the Siege Champion Program and Star Players. As Siege was my main focus for the years and all I played to finally get recognition from the people who designed it and them saying yes we want to work with you really made me feel like what I was doing was all worth it and not a waste of time.

I would love to get Twitch Partner or a Streamer Charm in Siege but I just don’t hit the numbers needed, but one day who knows!

Yeah that does sound like some accomplishment, I am very much sure youll get those goals very soon, Twitch Partner can’t be far off and I’m sure Siege needs to hook you up soon with that charm. Do you have any key advice that you would personally give to any smaller streamers about making their stream better and growing their channel and or content?

NETWORK. For 6 years I did nothing, I stuck to my own little bubble and always wondered to myself why I wasn’t growing and why I wasn’t getting any exposure. But in the past 2 years I’ve been collabing with other creators and attending IRL events to meet new creators and brands and it’s so much easier and given me so many new opportunities that I wouldn’t have got if I stayed in my room doing my own thing.

Get a Pitch Deck made of yourself with your bio and stats and get it out there to companies and brands to introduce yourself regardless of numbers, they will remember the people that make the effort and reach out to them!

Fantastic advice right there we agree networking it so key and IRL events are a blast, we appreciate the info on the pitch deck too traits a great tool to have. On the subject of streaming, we see your main focus is Twitch, what for you was the deciding factor to pick Twitch as your main platform?

When I first started streaming my main goal wasn’t to create long form content but to just have a platform to record my gameplay if I was ever to need it later on so Twitch was the perfect choice for that. Twitch was a newish platform after launching in 2011 after being Justin tv so it was a great place to start, and as time went on and I started building a community it just felt right to make it the home for my content!

Justin.tv now that’s a blast from the past, we are glad you did continue just from gathering clips as your community does seem wonderful. On the subject of Twitch as we know the platform itself can be quite tough, could you give our readers some insight on how in theory they may be able to better their Twitch account to grow their platforms?

Make sure you have all your socials and other platforms linked and shown in the banners below your stream so people can easily find you and know when you will be live next. Collaborate with other content creators, combine your community with theirs and help each other by giving discoverability to each other’s content. We are all in the same game and all looking to thrive so the more we help each other do it the easier it will become for yourself. Also, another main one if you are looking to make this fulltime is make a schedule. If people know when you are going live before you actually do, then they will know when to be about. If you are like me and throw up spontaneous streams the viewers never know when to be around.

Some great advice right there nothing worse than people not having socials to find or emails to message. One more Twitch related question, we see lately a lot of creators are jumping away from Twitch to other platforms, is this something you may test in the future and do you have a take on the jumps away from Twitch at the moment?

Its 100% something I’ve considered. I am looking into testing live streaming on YouTube as the more I’ve looked into it the more it actually makes sense. Once you have streamed your vod is there ready and uploaded for people to view at a later date and then any long form / short form content you create is there on the same page. All of your content in one hub. For the time being I’ll be doing for example 3 streams a week on Twitch and then 1 a week on YouTube, this way I can test the water and if YouTube starts picking up then switch up the ratio. I also duo stream on TikTok at the same time to help drive more exposure to my channels.

Totally understandable and the way things are going the correct move, we do see YouTube as a great platform to jump on even if Twitch is your home, YouTube can be a serious game changer and we can’t forget about TikTok if you can master the algorithm that stuff sends you viral. We did manage to catch you streaming at i70 for a brief moment which was great to see, so on the subject of i70 tell us what is the importance as a creator it is to attend such an event like Insomnia The Gaming Festival?

It’s a huge opportunity to speak to other creators and companies face to face and really get to know them. Over the past yeah I’ve learned the value of this and have actually got some amazing opportunities with companies due to the fact I pitched to them there. You are more than just a username on the screen, but for online interactions you need to build yourself a pitch deck which is just a massive about me and here are my stats. If you are really serious about content creation I can’t recommend enough attending these types of events to get yourself out there as a brand.

We totally agree, we love events and we have done tons of networking at these also we have met so many nice people;le and have created such great bonds with creators and companies also, without these events we wouldn’t have half of the features we have today. Do you go to similar events like i70 to network with creators, meet your community or a mixture of the two?

Bit of everything really. They are great for networking but also a fantastic opportunity to meet up with your friends you know online, and make new friends. I can highly recommend if you are a creator to apply for a creator pass to these events as well. You never get much different from a normal pass but it makes it easier for you to talk to the brands.

Oh for sure, can’t beat a good few drinks at the casino with the pals followed by a jam packed day of gaming and networking, It’s truly a great outing. I spoke to you once before via twitter about the struggles with having Crohn’s disease. As someone who also suffers with this, could you give our readers a little insight on how this may affect you and how you manage to battle this to produce great content?

I got diagnosed back in 2011 and at the start really struggled with it. My flare ups were constant and I was always unwell. After trying out a few medications I managed to find one that worked and put me into remission around about the time I started content creation. It was okay for a while but then I noticed sitting around for long periods of time started to affect my Crohns. I would bloat up, get lower back pain and get abdominal cramps. Back then I used to ignore it and just push through it.

But it was only up until about 4 years ago I started listening to my body. If I’m not feeling well prior to going live or making a video I will take the time off for my body to rest. If I feel my back starting to play up or my cramps get too much during my live I will end slightly earlier so I can rest. I feel like the information is the same for everyone regardless of the condition, listen to your body. If you don’t feel up to it don’t feel pressured to commit, your community or viewers will understand. You are someone they enjoy watching and the last thing they want to do is watch you be in pain. They will always understand if you need to take time for yourself. This is extremely important when it comes to mental health as well.

You are spot on there 100% don’t burn out, don’t overwork, make sure your body rests and put your health at number one priority, fantastic advice and words and your right this can be for any disability or issues. Away from your content creation life what do you do in your spare time?

Outside of content I don’t really have a lot of free time. During the day I work fulltime as a 3D Visualiser and then if I’m not making content in the evenings I’m spending them with my partner. Gaming is my hobby so I build the content around that.

3D Visualiser damn that sounds great would love to hear more some day, and it’s great to hear you do have some down time with your partner and gaming is that escape too. Let’s talk about your setup. What are the topmost essential things that you can’t create content without?

I don’t think there is a wrong or right answer for this. Everyone has different ways of creating content and the tools they use for it. Personally I think for me the Elgato Stream deck has been a lifesaver as I use a 65% keyboard it gives me those extra buttons to macro that I lost with a smaller keyboard. Also a decent camera and lighting I feel helps as I prioritise communicating with the viewers and feel like it helps make the streamer/ viewer relationship connect better.

Stream decks are pretty useful, most definitely a must have in your setup, good lighting and camera real big one for sure and of course communication great advice once again. So let’s talk about your highlight reel! What are the top moments in your career so far that you would want in a montage?

1. Joining the Siege Champions Program

2. Becoming a Ubisoft Star Player

3. Joining FNATIC

4. Going to the Six Invitational in 2020

5. Building an amazing community on Twitch

6. Working with LogitechG

7. Working with IntelUK

8. Being hosted by the official Rainbow Six Twitch

Some massive achievements right there congrats man we can’t wait to see more as your progress within your content creation. So we’ve mentioned montages with your top highlights and with 2023 half way through what are your goals for the end of the year?

I think my main goals are to improve my socials and increase my viewer base within each. Would love to hit 10k followers on Twitch and TikTok and 5k on YouTube. I would also love to collaborate with more creators on different games.

Well team TGG are always up for a game or two, we wish you very much good luck in reaching those numbers they may seem small to some but are a huge accomplishment for many. What is something that no one who watches your channel/content knows about you?

We spoke about it earlier on but it’s that I suffer from Crohn’s Disease. I don’t really speak about it that often on stream, I tend to keep it hidden when I’m flaring up or in pain, but I feel like I’m going to change that and help bring more awareness to the disease

using my platforms.

I am all for this! suffering with it since I was 12 years old, so 18 years as of 2023, having it orally also and having major surgery removing some of my bowel, please do let me know whether its a charity stream or awareness i will be there to assist along the way. Finally, what are you currently working on that you’d like our readers to know about/ check out?

I’m currently trying to grow my YouTube platform with Live, Short form and Long form content so any support over on that would be appreciated!

That sounds great! We hope our readers will head on over to support you more on your YouTube channel. Well Ralphyy there we have it, it’s been an absolute pleasure to be interviewing you today, we wish you all the best in the future.

On that note if you would like to check out Ralphyy and all of their socials you can do so below, for now that’s me Sawyer signing off, peace.

Be sure to check out Ralphyy’s Twitch channel and other social media platforms!

Twitch: @Ralphyy

Instagram: @RalphyyR6

Twitter: @RalphyyR6

TikTok: @Ralphyyr6

YouTube: @Ralphyy

Discord: @Ralphyy

NickeltonPvp

Nick, better known as “NickletonPvP”, is a streamer and a YouTube Partner content creator based in the UK. NIckletonPvP started his streaming life originally on Twitch, but then made the move over to Beam/Mixer. However, when Mixer shut down, he moved his focus to creating content on YouTube. After a long break from creating content to become an MVP father, NickletonPvP is back in the saddle, bringing his content over to Kick! As a variety streamer you’ll find him playing anything from Splatoon and Mario games, to Fortnite and Diablo!

Hey NickletonPvP! First of all, we would like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy day for this interview. How have you been?

I’ve been super well thank you and I’m super excited to be asked to be interviewed!

We’re happy to have you! Let’s start from the beginning, how long have you been streaming/creating content? And what made you want to start?

I’ve been making content for about 6 years, on and off now. I started streaming as I wanted to find new friends and a community to play similar games with, which at the time was World of Warcraft.

I was addicted to World of Warcraft myself; I can’t be trusted with MMORPGs. It is definitely a lot more fun playing with friends and community than soloing! How did the name NickletonPvP come about?

So I used to do Engineering and got Nicknamed Nickle… and because I’ve always been quite a simpleton, it sorta merged! Then we had the PVP due to mainly doing Player vs Player modes in games.

We see you streaming a whole bunch of different games. What led to the decision to create content as a variety streamer?

I find sticking to one game really limits you. There are so many amazing games being

developed all the time. Yes, it could push numbers in certain categories but then I feel if you don’t shake it up a bit you might get bored of that game and get to a point of playing the game because you have to rather than because you want to.

I can completely understand that. We all get into playing the games we play because we enjoy it, and the worse thing is for that enjoyment to change into feeling like playing the game is a chore. This leads nicely on to the next question. You have played your fair share of games as a variety streamer. What would your top 3 games of all time be and why?

Splatoon Series - it’s such a fast pace colourful game series and is fun and competitive.

World of Warcraft - It was so much fun to come home and dive into a new fantasy world especially after the stresses of school and colleges at the time and meeting loads of new friends online that you could raid and battle together.

Fortnite - Has to be one game I do keep going back to…. and now with the no-build mode just have lots of fun in the game.

Fantastic games all round, although I’m bias towards World of Warcraft myself. What is your favourite gaming platform/system to play games on or stream on?

I’ve always been a Console Player and Xbox Fanboy but I’ve just got a PS5 and enjoying

most of the exclusives that have to offer as not experienced them before. I’m fortunate enough to be able to rotate between all platforms as I try to make days for my community so some days I focus on Switch and PC.

it’s awesome that you’re able to switch between platforms and enjoy the exclusive content each one has to offer; 100% jealous right here! How has it been coming back to streaming after taking a break for some time? What challenges have you faced? And what advice can you offer to someone who is looking to get back into streaming?

It definitely was a bit of a learning curve as I got 6k followers on Twitch, at the time was having contracts and brand deals to try Beam/ Mixer and ofc got to attend some amazing Xbox and gaming events! I had a break and come back to Mixer being shut down. It was hard to find what felt like a stable platform to get back into it. I suggest finding a platform that you think fits your style of content better and seeing if there is a gap for you to excel that way. And things that worked a few years ago may not be the meta anymore so research the different platforms. Streaming is so much more popular now and you have some really amazing creative younger creators that don’t have big commitments and can be live nearly 24/7.

What made you decide to restart your streaming on Youtube after your break instead of another streaming platform?

Youtube is super solid that platform and isn’t going anywhere, and after Mixer shutting down I thought I would give it a go. We managed to hit YouTube Partner, which is so hard to get the 4,000 watch hours and the 1,000 subscribers, especially as a new channel… but you just keep at it! If you have fun doing the content don’t focus on numbers. Focus on if you like what you’re creating.

Huge congratulations on getting YouTube partner! And great advice about not focusing on the numbers. If you’re get good at what you do the numbers will surely follow! Of course being good at what you do requires dedicating a good amount of time to it, how do you manage streaming/content creation with parenthood?

With working full time and having my little one who is now 6 years old, I can’t stream silly hours a day like I used to, so this is where I find YouTube helps with scheduling content. I can record and then edit when little one is asleep or at her moms’ house. When I know I have a weekend off or a certain day off I can plan a live stream in advance so the community know what is happening.

Do you have any advice for someone who is a parent and wants to get into creating content but feel maybe they won’t be able to dedicate enough time to stream for multiple hours?

It’s all about finding the balance - if you can only stream 1-2 hours every couple of days that’s fine! Your audience learns and will know what to expect. Building up a schedule would make things easier, however being a parent comes first so if you can create a community that understands that then it makes things easier when you have to reschedule content etc. Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t stream or have to cancel content!! IRL ALWAYS COMES FIRST!!

Looking after the little ones is definitely top priority. It’s always impressive when creators are able to balance both sides. We’re really sorry to see you missed out on attending Insomnia The Gaming Festival 71 as a Creator. Whether you’re going as an official Creator for the event or going with your own ticket, what do you think is the importance of attending events such as Insomnia?

As a Creator who has been to Gaming Festivals and Events as press many times, including Insomnia (I even have the LOGO Tattooed on my arm :D), it’s very important to attend these events as it gives you a chance to showcase yourself to brands, other content creators, and your community to meet IRL! It’s always a great feeling bringing a group of people together that all love gaming and streaming all in one area.

Are there any other events you are planning on attending or is currently on your radar to keep an eye on?

I’ll be at Insomnia! :D And none at the moment

unless I get asked, and can book it off work.

Are you currently a one-person content creating machine from start to finish? Or is there someone you would like to give a special mention to that keeps the machine well-oiled behind the scenes?

Unfortunately it’s just me at the moment regarding recording/editing but I would love to get to a stage where I could get a video editor involved so that would free up some more of my time for doing house chores etc

My Artist always smashes it out the park when getting work done for branding!

Twitter : @justnotcobalt

We’re rooting for you! If any up-and-coming editors out there would like to lend a hand, you know who to get in touch with! For you, what do you think are the essential things that you can’t create content without?

A good microphone. Amazing games that make me want to play. Devices to play games on.

Away from your content creation life, what do you do in your spare time?

As many activities as possible with my little one and just watch movies and go for little walks as I feel it is nice to have breaks from computers

and social media.

We believe having a break from screens and being online is a must ourselves! Helps refresh the brain and keep a healthy mental wellbeing. With half of 2023 behind us, what are your goals for the end of the year?

My goal is to hit 2,000 subs on YouTube! We are already at 1,640.

Finally, what are you currently working on that you’d like our readers to know about/ check out?

So I get asked so much to do Minecraft Content… I’ve never played Minecraft but wanted to include the community so a few friends and I have created a Minecraft server open to all! This is on all versions and is called ‘SparkBlocks’.

You can find it here - https://www.sparkblock. net/

Thank you very much for your time and having this interview with us. We wish you all the best in the future and we know you would definitely smash that 2000 subs on YouTube goal!

If you would like to check out NickletonPvP on any of their socials, you can do so below!

Be sure to check out NickletonPvP’s Twitch channel and other social media platforms!

Twitch: @nickletonpvp

Twitter: @nickleton_pvp

TikTok: @nickletonpvp

YouTube: @nickletonpvp