Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- 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
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Wins “Game of the Year” at 2025-2026 GDC Awards
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- 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)
- In 2005, games started rewiring our brains – The AV Club (2025)
Most Recent: PC
The creators of Layers of Fear, Bloober Team, will bring a new Blair Witch game to PC and Xbox One on August 30
Bloober Team, the Polish developer behind Layers of Fear and its recently-released sequel, delivered a very surprising (some might say bewitching) announcement during today’s Xbox E3 Briefing. Apparently, they’ve taken their horror game expertise and applied it to a brand new game based on the Blair Witch, which will be released for the PC and Xbox One on August 30.
The first-person horror title is set in 1996, just after the camcorders belonging to Heather, Mike, and Josh were discovered by authorities:
It’s 1996. A young boy disappears in the Black Hills Forest near Burkittsville, Maryland. As Ellis, a former police officer with a troubled past, you join the search. What starts as an ordinary investigation soon turns into an endless nightmare as you confront your fears and the Blair Witch, a mysterious force that haunts the woods.
“We are so thrilled, and honestly a little scared, to bring all players, especially fans of Blair Witch, back into the haunted woods. It is genuinely an honor to be working on such a hair-raising, paradigmatic experience, which defined so many of our lives,” said Piotr Babieno, the CEO of Bloober Team.
“The team at Bloober is made up of amazing storytellers. We were excited to give them the opportunity to craft an original narrative set in the iconic woods of Blair Witch,” said Daniel Engelhardt, the Senior Vice President of Lionsgate Interactive Ventures and Games. “They’ve taken the evil hiding in the Black Hills Forest to a whole new level. Players should enter at their own risk.”
The first trailer for Blair Witch has been embedded above.
Battle monsters in Minecraft Dungeons for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One in Spring 2020
Microsoft pledged to “to nurture and grow” the Minecraft franchise when they purchased it (and its developer, Mojang) for $2.5 billion back in 2014. While a handful of spinoffs have been farmed out to other developers (a moment of silence here for Minecraft: Story Mode), Mojang has been hard at work on Minecraft Dungeons.
Earlier today, the consolemaker gave fans their best look yet at the blocky dungeon crawler in a new trailer at their E3 Briefing, and filled in a few more details on the Xbox Wire:
Created in the classic dungeon crawler style, Minecraft Dungeons will be single player and co-op multiplayer for up to four, including couch co-op on Xbox One. As a new standalone game from Mojang, Minecraft Dungeons takes players to never-before-seen locations in the Minecraft Universe teeming with mobs, old and new.
Minecraft’s signature blocky look shines throughout Minecraft Dungeons, but you can expect to find unexpected twists like all-new weapons, abilities, and even some new mobs! Players will also be faced with unfamiliar challenges and environments that have not existed in Minecraft until now. Randomly-generated levels will create fresh challenges in every play-through, and players will quickly learn how different gear can affect their chances against enemy mobs. Oh, did we mention epic boss battles?
Minecraft Dungeons will include four-player cooperative play (both locally and online), and it’ll be available for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One in Spring 2020.
Playtonic will release Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair later this year
Playtonic Games has announced that their platforming duo of Yooka and Laylee will return in Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair.
The second game in the franchise will mix things up a bit, swapping out the original game’s 3D platforming for a side-scrolling adventure that also includes a puzzle-filled overworld to explore. The developer had quite a lot to say about this change on their official website:
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a 2D Platforming Adventure Hybrid. Master Yooka and Laylee’s medley of moves and traverse through charming and challenging 2D levels packed to the brim with collectibles, vibrant environments, and a bumbling batch of baddies to battle. Then, pull up your adventuring boots and explore a sprawling 3D overworld that boasts a wealth of puzzles, game-changing secrets, special challenges and a cast of colourful characters to chat to. You’ll meet some familiar faces, and some new ones, as you help Queen Phoebee restore order to the Royal Stingdom.
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair will be on display at next week’s E3 Expo, and Playtonic plans to announce more details about it then. In the meantime, the developer has uploaded an Announcement Trailer for the game (which we’ve embedded above) and confirmed that it’ll be released for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One later this year.
Overwatch: The Official Cookbook will be released in October
Have you ever wondered what a gorilla with a genius-level intellect eats? We might finally get an answer in Overwatch: The Official Cookbook.
Written by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel (the same author behind World of Warcraft: The Official Cookbook and Hearthstone: Innkeeper’s Tavern Cookbook), and published by Simon and Schuster’s Insight Editions imprint, the cookbook will honor Overwatch’s international background with “authentic recipes inspired by the game’s diverse heroes”:
Based on Blizzard Entertainment’s global phenomenon Overwatch, this official cookbook is packed with scores of authentic recipes inspired by the game’s diverse heroes hailing from all corners of the universe.
Building from the game’s compelling narrative and variety of characters, this cookbook features international food and drink recipes from each hero’s homeland. Each recipe includes straightforward step-by-step instructions, mouthwatering full-color photos, pairing suggestions, and more.
Overwatch: The Official Cookbook will include more than 100 recipes and it’ll be available to purchase this October.
Destroy All Humans! remake will be released for PC, PS4, and Xbox One in 2020
Lock up your cows… Destroy All Humans! is back. THQ Nordic has announced that players will once again get to lead the Furon invasion of 1950s America in this remake of the PS2/Xbox-era classic.
Developed by Black Forest Games, players will take control of gray-skinned alien Crypto-137 as he attempts to take over Earth one small town at a time. Using a unique of arsenal alien weaponry (including the Anal Probe Gun), Crypto can blast any soldiers that get in his way, but he’ll also be able to disguise himself as a nondescript to sneak into restricted areas, or use brand new psychokinesis abilities to send enemies flying.
THQ Nordic has said the game’s humorous dialogue will remain intact, but fans should expect to see an updated visual presentation and the restoration of the cut “Area 42” mission in the remake:
What are we keeping just the way it was and should be? The unique 50s alien invasion story and legendary dialogues full of quirky humor.
What are we carefully updating? Crypto is more agile than ever, his aerial combat skills improved, his psychic skills can now be used in glorious unison with his guns. And the new Psychokinesis… ever wondered what’d happen if a Jedi had a love child with the Goat Simulator? You’re welcome for that mental image.
Destroy All Humans! will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One sometime in 2020. The VERY WEIRD first trailer for the remake (which is, believe it or not, soundtracked by Rammstein) has been embedded above.
Darksiders Genesis is a top-down action RPG from Airship Syndicate
THQ Nordic teased an upcoming announcement for the fourth game in the Darksiders franchise last week… but they confirmed today that it’s not the Darksiders 4 that many fans were expecting.
Instead, the publisher has teamed up with Joe Madureira’s Airship Syndicate to create Darksiders Genesis, a top-down action RPG set within the Darksiders universe. Madureira co-created the Darksiders franchise for Vigil Games back in 2010, and this Diablo-inspired spinoff will finally give players the chance to play as the last Horseman, Strife:
In Darksiders Genesis, the fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse, Strife, is called upon to save humankind from certain destruction at the hands of Lucifer. True to its roots, Darksiders Genesis will feature intense combat, exploration, puzzle-solving, epic boss battles, and serpent holes from heaven to hell. The game marks the first, full-scale Darksiders adventure played from the top-down perspective.
Darksiders Genesis will be playable at next week’s E3 Expo and it’ll be available for the PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and Google Stadia later this year. In the meantime, a pretty fantastic new Announcement Teaser has been embedded above.
Grandia HD Collection is coming to the Switch and PC “soon”
GungHo Online Entertainment America has announced that Switch owners will “soon” be able to purchase the Grandia HD Collection, a compilation of the first two entries the franchise.
While GungHo wasn’t ready to announce a release date just yet, they did say that a re-release of the first game, Grandia HD Remaster, will be available to download for the PC on the same day (a Grandia II HD Remaster is already available through Steam). As of now, it looks like PC players will have to purchase both games individually and won’t receive the HD Collection as a single package.
Both games in the Grandia HD Collection will receive a graphical makeover with high definition sprites, along with an enhanced user interface. But fans new and old will be able to experience the classic RPGs just as they were in the late 90s/early 2000s:
Grandia HD Collection Features
- Real-Time, Turn-Based Action – Experience and employ a unique action bar system for real-time fighting with distinct characters
- Magic-Based Combat – Gather Mana Eggs to learn and use magic-based skills, ranging from elemental attacks to character-enhancing magic for defense and offense statistical boosts
- Illustrious Worlds to Explore – The vibrant worlds in Grandia HD Collection include nostalgic starter cities such as Parm (Grandia) and Carbo Village (Grandia II) to iconic fields and areas such as The End of the World (Grandia) and Valmar’s Moon (Grandia II)
- Gather Skill Points and ATTACK! – Skill Points or Skill Coins can be used to earn incredibly intense moves that make for an extraordinary fighting experience
- Eclectic Enemy Encounters – The worlds of Grandia and Grandia II bring forth a plethora of challenging and epic enemies in the wild, as well as main storyline bosses
- Ear-Indulging, Melodious Compositions – Experience world exploration, momentous battles, and legendary in-game experiences in beautiful harmony with musical compositions from acclaimed Japanese composer Noriyuki Iwadare
GungHo Online Entertainment America is planning to bring the Grandia HD Collection to next week’s E3 Expo and we should learn more about the compilation then.
Google Stadia will launch in November for $10 per month (but you’ll have to buy new games separately)
Google has been teasing their Google Stadia game streaming service for months now, and after a short tease back in March, the tech giant stepped back into the spotlight earlier today with an even more in-depth look at what it’ll offer.
The big news is that Google Stadia will launch in November, but the company also revealed a lot more information about how the service will work, including confirmation that players will need to individually purchase most of their games through the service.
The streaming service will be split into a Pro tier and a Base tier, and Pro players will pay $10 per month to stream games at 4K resolution, but they’ll also receive access to an “ever-expanding library of free games.” The Base tier will offer free access to Google Stadia, but it’s not scheduled to launch until 2020, streaming quality will be limited to 1080p, and players will need to purchase every game they wish to play individually.
That pricing plan is a tad surprising, but Google also said that players who want to be there from the beginning will need to purchase a special Founder’s Edition Bundle. Priced at $129.99, the bundle will include an exclusive Night Blue Stadia Controller, a Chromecast Ultra dongle, a copy of Destiny 2: The Collection, and a three-month subscription to the Pro tier.
That said, the streaming service will receive support from a large number of publishers and developers, and Stadia players will be able to stream games such as Borderlands 3, Darksiders Genesis, Wolfenstein: Youngblood, and many more at launch (or shortly after). The complete list of confirmed titles can be found after the break.
And in case you missed it, the Google Stadia Connect livestream where all these announcements happened has been embedded above. (more…)