Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- BAFTA Games Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books to Get a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
- GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- We Pitched a Museum a 1993 Game Hint Line (And They Actually Said Yes) – Yarn Spinner (2026)
- The History Of The Word “Metroidvania” And How It Spread – A Critical Hit (2025)
- Creator of Hit Game Shovel Knight Is at a ‘Make or Break’ Moment – Bloomberg (2025)
- Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history – Design Room (2025)
Most Recent: PC
The Plague announced by Focus Home Interactive and Asobo Studio
Asobo Studio isn’t a household name to most gamers, but there’s a very good chance that you’re familiar with their work. Since 2002, they’ve provided production assistance to a number of publishers on several high-profile games. Asobo has lent their development skills to the completion of The Crew, Quantum Break, and ReCore over the last few years.
More recently, the developer decided to take the lead on their first wholly original project. Asobo will release The Plague, an action-adventure game for the PC and consoles, in a partnership with publisher Focus Home Interactive.
“It is a great pride for Focus to accompany Asobo on an original creation of the studio,” said Focus Home’s President, Cedric Lagarrigue. “This new signature confirms our results and know-how on the support of talented independent studios such as Dontnod, Deck13, Giants Software, Cyanide, New World Interactive, and Larian on increasingly ambitious projects worldwide. There is a real upscaling of our catalog and The Plague will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the next years of Focus.”
We’ll learn more about The Plague in February. For now, Asobo has unveiled some very stylish concept art from the game.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged A Plague Tale: Innocence
It’s Official… BioWare will release Mass Effect: Andromeda on March 21
Writing on the game’s official website, BioWare’s General Manager, Aaryn Flynn, revealed that Mass Effect: Andromeda will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on March 21.
In addition to confirming the launch date, Flynn also thanked fans, praised the development team, and hyped up the next entry in the Mass Effect franchise in his letter:
Mass Effect: Andromeda is our most ambitious Mass Effect game to date. We’re telling completely new stories, creating new characters, new planets, new species, and introducing new gameplay systems. And for the first time, we’re bringing Mass Effect to the Frostbite game engine, an incredible engine that’s delivering a tremendous graphical jump from the trilogy to Mass Effect: Andromeda. To deliver on this, we’re taking all the time we can to make sure you’re getting the best possible experience.
While this is great news for PC, PS4, and Xbox One owners, BioWare announced earlier this week that Mass Effect: Andromeda isn’t in development for the Nintendo Switch.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Mass Effect: Andromeda
Inside leads the way with six nominations at 2017 GDC Awards
The organizers of the Game Developers Conference have announced the nominees for the 2017 Game Developers Choice Awards, which will be held on March 1 at 9:30 (Eastern Time). Playdead’s Inside tallied six nominations, including “Game of the Year,” “Best Narrative,” “Best Design,” “Best Visual Art,” “Best Audio,” and the “Innovation Award.”
Competing with Inside for “Game of the Year” honors this year is Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Blizzard’s Overwatch, Arkane’s Dishonored 2, and Campo Santo’s Firewatch.
Double Fine’s Tim Schafer will host the GDC Awards this year for the sixth time. He previously hosted the ceremony in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015.
The full list of nominees, and a huge number of Honorable Mentions, can be found after the break. (more…)
Rumor: Beyond Good & Evil 2 will be Switch-exclusive for a year; Rabbids/Mario Crossover to be titled Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Laura Kate Dale and Let’s Play Video Games are back with another batch of Switch-related rumors… this time shining the spotlight on Ubisoft’s Beyond Good & Evil 2 and a Rabbids/Mario Crossover.
We know that Beyond Good & Evil 2 is currently in development, but Dale is reporting that the long-awaited sequel has been tagged with a new codename/subtitle, Odyssey, and will be exclusive to the Switch for a year. As you might expect with an Ubisoft game, after the exclusivity period ends, it’ll appear on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
As for the Rabbids/Mario Crossover, it’ll be an RPG and it’ll be known as Rabbids Kingdom Battle. It might be released during the Switch’s launch window, but Dale’s sources are saying it might be delayed until September. If you can’t wait until the Fall, it’s looking likely that future Switch owners will also receive a port of Rayman Legends sometime this Summer.
All three of these titles are expected to be unveiled during Nintendo’s Switch presentation, which will be held on January 12.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Beyond Good and Evil 2, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Rayman Legends
Kilgore is now available to download in Killer Instinct
Iron Galaxy has announced (via their official website) that Killer Instinct‘s next fighter, Kilgore, is now available to download on the PC and Xbox One. Kilgore is a prototype of Fulgore, and as a robot with machine guns for arms and a propensity to overheat he can be a bit unpredictable. Thankfully, Iron Galaxy’s Adam Heart and Isaac Torres put the character through his paces in a special livestream that can be found after the break.
Before Fulgore and the Mark 03 units were introduced to the world, Ultratech created a line of failed cyborgs during the secret CCIX Program. These hulking battle machines bore twin overpowered chain guns that tended to overheat, making them unstable and unfit for service. But one cyborg—nicknamed Kilgore—became self-aware, and started rewriting his own software to account for this deficiency in his hardware. Saved from the scrapheap, this special unit has been brought out of retirement by ARIA to enforce her will…and Kilgore obeys.
Kilgore was designed to be more than just a simple reskin of Fulgore by Iron Galaxy, and is the first character available in what the developer is referring to as Killer Instinct’s “Post-Season 3.” Kilgore has been priced at $10 and 50% of the purchase price will be used to support the upcoming KI Ultra Tour and future Killer Instinct tournaments.
Iron Galaxy plans to release several other characters as part of “Post-Season 3,” each with their own unique style, and they’ll be announced at a later date.
Finally, the developer has confirmed that Ultimate Finishing Moves will be added to Killer Instinct in a future update, and you can get a sneak peek at what they look like in the new trailer embedded above. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Killer Instinct
Overwatch’s “Oasis” map is now available to download
Blizzard has announced that all Overwatch players can now download “Oasis,” the latest addition to the shooter’s selection of maps. Within the game’s lore, “Oasis” takes place in “one of the world’s most advanced cities” and serves as “a shining jewel rising from the Arabian Desert.”
Built for Control Mode, players who venture into “Oasis” will need to dodge vehicles and use Jump Pads to capture and defend three different control points:
Researchers and academics from around the region came together to found a city dedicated to scientific progress without restraints—a monument to human ingenuity and invention. The city and its inhabitants are governed by the Ministries, a collection of brilliant minds who possess many secrets that have attracted the interest of powerful organizations from around the world.
Feel free to take a tour of “Oasis” in the new trailer embedded above.
Tequila Works will officially release Rime for PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Switch in May 2017
Last month, the colorful “adventure platformer” Rime popped up on the Brazilian Ratings Board with a planned launch for the PS4, PC, Switch, and Xbox One. However, at the time, the game was officially in development as a PS4 exclusive at Tequila Works. Today, the developer teamed up with IGN to re-reveal Rime in a new trailer and confirm that it is indeed also in the works for the PC, Switch, and Xbox One:
As you can see in the re-reveal gameplay trailer above, Rime retains its distinct cartoon-like look and its intriguing vibe, which reminds us a bit of a combination of Zelda: Wind Waker, The Last Guardian, and The Witness. It will now be released for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
Tequila Works describes Rime as “a single-player puzzle adventure about discovery, experienced through the eyes of a young boy who awakens on a mysterious island after shipwrecking off its coast. Players must navigate the island’s secrets by making use of light, sound, perspective and even time. Inspired by the rugged, sunbaked terrain of the Mediterranean coast, Rime paints its breathtaking world with a fusion of vibrant colors and moving musical undertones to set the stage for the deeply personal journey that awaits within.”
Rime will be released for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One in May 2017.
Pokemon Sun/Moon were the best-selling games on Amazon in 2016
Earlier this week, Steam provided a quick glimpse at the best-selling games available through the storefront in 2016. Besides The NPD Group’s monthly reports on gaming’s retail sector, it might be the best window into what sells and what doesn’t that we have.
However, Amazon also published a list of best-selling games from 2016 earlier this week, and naturally, it features a considerably more console-centric bent. Nintendo’s Pokemon Sun and Moon reigned supreme, taking the #1 and #2 spots. Final Fantasy XV was the best-selling PS4 game (#3 overall), while Madden NFL 17 claimed the Xbox One’s highest ranking (#5).
You’ve got to go all the way down to #18 to find the best-selling Wii U game (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD), and the only PC game on the list is Overwatch (#46). No Vita games managed to crack Amazon’s Top 100 (which also included console bundles and accessories), but the Wii version of Just Dance 2017 checked in at #21.
The complete list of Amazon’s best-selling games from 2016 can be found after the break. (more…)