Having finally seen The Outer Worlds 2 for myself, it’s clear that leaning into deeper RPG elements was one of the priorities for developer Obsidian. Where the first game was more approachable with streamlined systems and progression for building out your character, the sequel is about avoiding homogeneity, and even egging you on to play in unorthodox fashion. But it’s not entirely about being complex for the sake of it. The Outer Worlds 2 wants players to get creative, become more specialized with the things they spec into, and embrace the oddball choices they may have to make.

“We're looking for ways to incentivize the player to experiment with different builds, either traditional or non-traditional,” design director Matt Singh told me in a conversation about how the team has revamped its RPG mechanics. When speaking to the broader approach, he said “We really wanted to lean into synergies, looking at how player Skills, Traits, and Perks can all infuse into interesting builds tha

BioWare suffered from friction between its Dragon Age and Mass Effect teams, a former developer has claimed.

Writing on social media, Dragon Age creator and former lead writer David Gaider has discussed his experiences at the studio prior to his departure in 2016, and said that staff working on the studio's two biggest franchises "didn't get along".

This was something Gaider said he experienced personally when he moved across to join the main Mass Effect team as they worked on the ill-fated Anthem, after completing work on the original Mass Effect trilogy.

"For a long time it was basically two teams under one roof: the Dragon Age team and the Mass Effect team," Gaider wrote. "Run differently, very different cultures, may as well have been two separate studios. And they didn't get along.

"The company was aware of the friction and attempts to fix it had been ongoing for years, mainly by shuffling staff between the teams more often. Yet this didn't really solve things, and I

Whether you're a fan of games like this or not, Drug Dealer Simulator is evidently getting a fair bit of interest prior to its Xbox arrival - and it's also been wrapped up in controversy over the past week on the Steam platform.

We talked about this exactly seven days ago - it was the story about Schedule 1 being "investigated" ahead of Drug Dealer Simulator's Xbox release. Since then, Drug Dealer Simulator has continued to suffer "overwhelmingly negative" reviews on Steam, and the publisher actually issued a statement to try and cool the controversy.

Here's a bit of what that statement had to say, along with our original story about it below:

*The analysis and investigation were necessary in the light of repeating opinions that the games are very similar. By not investigating it, Movie Games, being a publicly traded company, could face severe consequences for negligence.

There is no ill will towards TVGS. We even mailed them best wishes shortly before the release, when th

I've been trying to distill my thoughts and feelings about playing Marathon into something easily communicable and I keep coming back to Season 6, Episode 13 of The Simpsons. In the episode, titled "And Maggie Makes Three," Homer learns that he's become a father for the third time and, in response, reacts with a despondent thumbs up that simultaneously acknowledges that something good has happened but that it also creates the potential for stress, hardship, and maybe even disappointment. I hate to reduce playing an alpha version of the next game from the team behind Halo and Destiny to a reaction meme deployed by millennials in group chats, but the accuracy of what homersadthumbsup.jpg conveys is undeniable.

After around eight hours of gameplay where I faced off against developers, content creators, and members of the press, I left Bungie's Bellevue studio keen to play more of its high-stakes PvPvE multiplayer game. And at the same time, I couldn't deny that I had serious concerns

I've been playing through Avowed since it came out and loving it. Although admittedly I was already a big Pillars of Eternity fan.

Then South of Midnight has come out recently and blown me away. I had low expectations but it is pretty much a new Psychonauts game.

The puzzler Chants of Senaar has been very fun so far with a unique take on the puzzle genre in terms of learning a new symbol based language.

Finally Blue Prince comes out today and it's got 10/10 review across the board. I feel like I am getting good value from my sub at the moment.

Welcome to our latest IGN First – a month of exclusive coverage in April, and it's all about The Outer Worlds 2. This is the very first look at its gameplay in real time, and it takes us through a quest where you infiltrate the N-Ray Facility to show off several of the game’s new features and mechanics, as well as how it’s rethinking level design. And one of the biggest things that stood out to me is how much deeper it’s going to be as an RPG with developer Obsidian looking back at its past and even drawing inspiration from immersive sims like Deus Ex and Dishonored.

While that DNA has always been a part of first-person RPGs, The Outer Worlds 2 has more sophisticated systems compared to the first game like a true stealth system and better tools to make the playstyle viable, including effective melee weapons and skills to make silent takedowns possible. Take, for example, the health bar above enemy heads – there’s a purple-colored readout that displays how damage a stealth attack wi

Xbox has confirmed they’ll return on June 8th, 2025 for their annual Xbox Games Showcase with an Outer Worlds 2 Direct airing afterwards:

The Xbox Games Showcase is back on June 8th at 1PM EDT/10AM PDT with an Outer Worlds 2 direct airing immediately after. Last year’s show is considered one of the platform’s best, and fans are hoping this years is even better. Here is the press release from Xbox:

Make some space on your calendar – the Xbox Games Showcase 2025 will be livestreamed on Sunday, June 8, starting at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK time. Following in the footsteps of the 2023 Starfield Direct and 2024 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct, this year we will again have a double feature, with the Xbox Games Showcase immediately followed by The Outer Worlds 2 Direct.

It all begins with our annual Xbox Games Showcase, bringing you a look at upcoming titles from across our first-party studios, in addition to incredible new titles from our third-party partners across the

Sorry, Deus Ex fans, despite a new Deus Ex game reportedly being pitched by Eidos-Montreal, it sounds like the company's external partners and publishers aren't interested in bringing the franchise back.

Eidos-Montreal's Deus Ex pitches have reportedly fallen on deaf ears

Eidos-Montreal is said to have been pitching a new Deus Ex game The title is said to be different from the one Embracer cancelled last year Eidos-Montreal laid off 75 employees last week

As reported by Insider Gaming, Eidos-Montreal wants to return to the Xbox shooter franchise, and has apparently been pitching a new Deus Ex game "regularly" to its publishers and external partners. Nobody is said to have committed to the project yet, though, with sources claiming that it's clear that publishers aren't ready to take the financial risk the franchise brings right now, and that it is "too niche."

According to the report, this is a completely different game from the one Embracer canceled in 2024 when it laid

It's been a while since we last heard about Bungie's new 'Marathon' extraction shooter, but it's suddenly now reappeared with a new teaser trailer - revealing that a full gameplay reveal showcase will be taking place this Saturday.

Specifically, Marathon's gameplay reveal is set for April 12th at 10am PDT / 1pm EDT / 6pm BST. You'll be able to watch the full thing on Twitch, and we'll be recapping it here at Pure Xbox ASAP after the event as well.

As a reminder, here's what Bungie says about Marathon:

Marathon is a team-based extraction shooter and the first completely new project from Bungie, the creators of Halo and Destiny, in more than a decade. Set on the mysterious planet of Tau Ceti IV, Marathon will see players inhabit the bodies of Runners, cybernetic mercenaries who have been designed to survive the planet’s harsh environments. While exploring the lost colony that once inhabited the surface, players will search for valuable loot including new weapons and gear.

Bu

Microsoft has created a playable "interactive space inspired" by Quake II using AI, and it's sparked a vociferous debate online.

As spotted by PC Gamer, the demo is powered by Microsoft's recently announced Muse and the World and Human Action Model (WHAM) AI system, and "can dynamically create gameplay visuals and simulate player behavior in real-time," which means a semi-playable environment has been generated entirely through AI and without an in-game engine.

"In this real-time tech demo, Copilot dynamically generates gameplay sequences inspired by the classic game Quake II," Microsoft explained. "Every input you make triggers the next AI-generated moment in the game, almost as if you were playing the original Quake II running on a traditional game engine. Enjoy the experience, share your thoughts, and help shape the future of AI-powered gameplay experiences.

"This bite-sized demo pulls you into an interactive space inspired by Quake II, where AI crafts immersive visuals an

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six fans could soon have something a little different to play, as Ubisoft is reportedly developing a turn-based tactics Rainbow Six game. We've also got the Rainbow Six Siege X overhaul to look forward to in June.

A turn-based Rainbow Six game could launch in the next two years

As reported by InsiderGaming, Ubisoft is apparently looking to shake things up with its Rainbow Six franchise again. We've had third and first-person shooters, plus the co-op monster shooter Rainbow Six Extraction in 2022, and now it sounds like we could get a turn-based tactics variant.

According to the report, the game is still "likely one or two years out," but it's apparently in development for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PC, and "possibly" for the Nintendo Switch 2.

Apparently, the game will include a top-down viewpoint similar to games like XCOM and Diablo 4, with a Rainbow Six Siege-style gameplay loop in which you control of Rainbow Six Operators with unique skills to raid bui

AFAICR Yakuza 5 and 6 exited on 18 of March. I kept the console on and didn't exit the game. Somehow the server did not kick me off until yesterday. 😋

Things like updates not completing and then restarting in their own, the MS store app needing to update several times an hour.

Nightdive Studios, a company known for efforts in updating and preserving outdated video games, has revealed that it would like to start remastering games from the PS3 and Xbox 360 era.

In an interview with VGC, studio head Stephen Kick and director of business development Larry Kuperman said that they want to look at games that were only released on PS3 and Xbox 360 for potential remasters. When taking into consideration which games that could be remastered, Kuperman said that there are many factors that come into play.

These include things like having access to the game's source code and original assets, as well as examining what consoles the game currently lives on. Games that are exclusive to one console, for example, might be more in need of a refresh. This is what makes tackling PS3 and Xbox 360 era titles such an exciting prospect.

Kick brought up Free Radical Design and Ubisoft's 2008 PS3 exclusive, Haze. He explained that Nightdive would approach the developers about

Developer id Software and publisher Bethesda Softworks will be launching their coming first-person shooter ‘Doom: The Dark Ages’ on Battle.net alongside Steam and the Xbox PC app (Microsoft Store). And just like Obsidian Entertainment’s ‘Avowed‘, the game will support crossbuy between the Xbox version and the Battle.net version so long as the buyer purchases the game on either platform and have their accounts linked.

More ways to play never hurt anyone—but demons do feel pain when gibbed! Have a gander at our preview of Doom: The Dark Ages for we think tis a game not to be skipped!

We previewed the game, today!

You know why historians often refer to medieval days as the dark ages? It’s because id Software had yet to invent Doom, and society lived in absolute disarray until then. Lore-wise, Doom: The Dark Ages is a prequel to the last two instalments in the franchise, but don’t be fooled.

It is a transformative new mainline installment in th

Now it's out, how we all finding it?

Ubisoft has launched a new subsidiary dedicated to its big three IPs - Assassin's Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry - in a move CEO Yves Guillemot has called a "new chapter" for the publisher. Chinese conglomerate Tencent holds a minority stake in the new entity after investing €1.16bn.

Ubisoft's announcement follows several reports a new venture was being considered using the company's assets.. Earlier this month, Bloomberg claimed Ubisoft was mulling over the launch of a fresh business unit part-owned by outside companies, noting such a tactic could potentially result in the new entity being valued higher than Ubisoft itself following years of falling share prices and a string of disappointing game launches.

In today's announcement, Ubisoft valued its new subsidiary at around €4bn. This, it wrote, "highlights the strong value of [its] IPs, significantly reinforces its balance sheet, and enables [it] to continue its efforts to become a more agile organisation, unleash the full cr

Last year, we brought you an interview with the team behind The Precinct - a game we described as a mix of old-school GTA and Police Simulator - but at the time, it didn't have a release date for any platform.

That's all changed today though! The release date for The Precinct is officially May 13th on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S (along with PS5 and PC), and it's getting both a digital edition and a physical edition.

We're really excited to get our hands on this one - everything we've heard about it sounds fantastic, especially in terms of the procedurally-generated crimes that were described to us by The Precinct's team last year:

"*The Crime Generation system generates crimes all over the city. Some are reported over the radio while others are discovered by patrolling the streets and back alleyways.The core loop of the game is handling these crimes and following the m

It's been announced today as part of Minecraft Live that Minecraft will be getting a graphics upgrade in the near future known as "Vibrant Visuals", and it looks set to be released on a variety of devices including Xbox consoles.

Vibrant Visuals is designed to provide "improved visual elements such as directional lighting, volumetric fog, and more" while also remaining true to the team's creative principles, and the result is said to be pretty spectacular.

The result is dazzling – shadows move as the sun arcs across the sky, water reflects the landscape around it, and clouds appear infinite as they stretch far into the distance.

*Improvements including volumetric lighting mean you’ll be able to watch the sun’s rays carve across the Overworld, and every block will cast its own shadow. Light will shine through your windows, and you’ll be able to see reflections in water and on the surface of metallic blocks, while subsurface scattering brings a gentle glow to leaves and grass

Anyone for another roundup of Xbox Game Pass rumours? The latest comes courtesy of EA, as it appears that both Dragon Age: The Veilguard and EA Sports FC 25 are being prepared for Xbox Game Pass at some point in the future.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the most surprising one here, as the game's only been out for just under six months, but as spotted by the likes of Knobel and Xbox Era, an apparently new Xbox Store listing has appeared on PC with the words "PC Game Pass" alongside it. Here's a closer look:

The bit we're unsure about here is that the "PC Game Pass" mention might just refer to the free EA Play trial that's included with the game, but the fact that it's supposedly a new listing suggests something bigger might be in the works.

EA Sports FC 25 makes a lot of sense, of course, as those games are always added to EA Play and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate somewhere around the May-June time period. We expect that to be the case again this year.

Don't take either of these