News

Following its half-hearted, widely derided stab at an esports event in 2023, the International Olympic Committee has announced the inaugural Olympic Esports Games in partnership with the Saudi Arabian Olympic & Paralympic Committee, to be held in Saudi Arabia next year.

Tethering its future esports success to a regime that’s been widely criticised for its poor human rights record – which includes the criminalisation of homosexuality, fewer rights for women, and the use of the death penalty – is certainly a bold opening move for the IOC, but not unexpected given the Saudi government’s heavy financial investment in esports over the last few years.

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth Public Investment Fund is, for instance, financing this year’s Esports World Cu…

Former Speaker of the House John Bercow voices a character in the forthcoming Fallout: London mod.

Bercow was Speaker of the House in the UK Parliament, known for yelling “Order!” at rowdy MPs during his tenure. More recently, you may have spotted him in second season of The Traitors US.

Next he’ll make an appearance in Fallout: London as, fittingly, a robot Speaker of the House. His inclusion means he will join the likes of Neil Newbon (Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3), Anna Demetriou (Sophia in A Plague Tale: Requiem), and two Doctor Who actors: Sylvester McCoy and Colin Baker.

Fallout London – Official Release Announcement

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A sequel to Journey to the Savage Planet is seemingly in development.
While Journey to the Savage Planet’s original developer Typhoon Studios was shut down back in 2021, it was reformed to become Racoon Logic that same year.
At this time, the studio’s head Reid Schneider said Raccoon plans to “build upon the Journey to the Savage Planet franchise in the future”. And, it now seems that more word on the series’ future is imminant.

Newscast: Does the loss of day one launches make Xbox Game Pass pointless?

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Rogue Company has scrubbed all mentions of Dr Disrespect from the game.
The free-to-play multiplayer live-service shooter – which was heavily promoted by Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm – hadn’t been updated in over a year.
But within weeks of the news that Beahm had allegedly been sending sexually explicit messages to a minor via Twitch, developer First Watch Game and publisher Hi-Rez Studios had updated the game to remove all content affiliated with the streamer.

Newscast: With the death of Keystone, will Xbox give up its streaming console plans forever?

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Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka would love to make a Sonic RPG before he retires from Sega, though that’s just a dream.

Iizuka was interviewed by YouTube channel Good Vibes Gaming for a preview of the forthcoming Sonic x Shadow Generations and discussed whether he’d ever work on a Sonic RPG in future.

“Personally, I really like role-playing games,” he said. “The RPG game format is a lot of fun and I’ve even thought to myself ‘you know, for the past 30 years we haven’t done a Sonic RPG’. And I’m questioning myself. ‘Why haven’t we done a Sonic RPG in all this time? How have we gotten to 30 years with no RPGs?!’

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UPDATE 7/7/25:: Video Games Deluxe has refuted rumours that a new LA Noire game could be on the way.

In a statement to press, the team said: “We are working exclusively on projects for Rockstar.

We commissioned some music from a local composer Freyja Garbett for a VR project that we were working on a number of years ago when between projects. It is based on a case from LA Noire that did not make the cut but was more of a tech demo than anything else.

“We have no idea whether this will ever see the light of day but we decided to finish the score commission to support a local composer.”

Garbett’s Instagram posts have since been deleted.
Original story follows.

ORIGINAL STORY 6/7/25: Former LA Noire developers are reportedly working on a new psychological thri…

Alarmo, Nintendo’s new interactive alarm clock, is available now in the UK if you’re a Nintendo Switch Online subscriber.

The gadget is priced £89.99 on these shores. Upon its surprise announcement yesterday, Nintendo also announced a $99 price point for the US.

Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo, to give the device its full name, is an interactive alarm designed to sit by your bedside. It includes alarm sounds and animations based around several top Nintendo franchises – including Mario, Zelda, Pikmin and Splatoon – to wake you up in the morning.

The interactivity comes from Alarmo’s snazzy movement sensor, which can detect when you’re beginning to get out of bed. When it detects this, you can expect to hear additional noises – such as Mario coin sounds -…

UPDATE 9/10/24: Just a quick update to let you know Sony is now selling those refurbished PS5 consoles via PlayStation Direct.
These refurbished consoles are promised to “work like new”, and retail at £389.99. Otherwise, Amazon discounted new PS5 slim consoles for £419.99 right now as well.
The original story continues below.

ORIGINAL 11/9/2024: If the recently-announced PS5 Pro is a little too pricey for you but you have been looking to get your hands on a PlayStation 5 at some point, there is a significantly cheaper option on the horizon.
Sony is primed to start selling refurbished PS5 consoles, which it promises will be “as good as new” (although the company does note its refurbished products “may have minor cosmetic imperfections”).
While the PS5 …

Ubisoft’s efforts to improve the Star Wars Outlaws experience continue today with arrival of its newest update, this time promising further stealth tweaks, speeder improvements, performance and stability optimisations, and more.

Title Update 1.2, as the latest update is officially known, weight in at 3.8GB on PS5, 4.71GB on Xbox Series X/S, and 5.6GB on PC. Its primary goal, according to Ubisoft’s release notes, is “improving the camera on your speeder and its responsiveness”, as well as “other tweaks to ensure your adventures are smoother and more rewarding.”

Top of its list of notable changes, though, are those aforementioned stealth tweaks. Star Wars Outlaws’ previous Title Update 1.1.2 already made some initial changes to the games’s stealth sequences – w…

The Case of the Golden Idol is getting a little bit of a makeover.
Developer Color Gray Games has detailed a new Redux version of its detective murder mystery game, and it’s set for Steam and Switch.
This Redux version of Case of the Golden Idol will overhaul the game’s UI and add a new hint system. It will also offer 13 new localisations, readability and save improvements, and “dozens more” quality-of-life changes. All of this will make for a “much more seamless and enjoyable experience”, the developer said, particularly highlighting Steam Deck.

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