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
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- 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”
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- With Grand Theft Auto 6 poised to take over the world, I reached out to Jack Thompson and it did not go well – PC Gamer (2026)
- Vib-Ribbon: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- How a Second-Grade Teacher Revived a Beloved Video Game – The New York Times (2026)
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- Diablo IV PC Cooled With Real Human Blood Is Still Going Strong Two Years Later, Says Guy Who Won It – Aftermath (2026)
Most Recent: PC
Blizzard’s Overwatch will be released on May 24
Blizzard has announced that their upcoming “hero shooter,” Overwatch, will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on May 24. The merry month of May will actually be a busy one for nascent genre, as 2K Games and Gearbox will release the similarly-themed Battleborn on May 3.
A brand new “Street Date” trailer will clue players in on the story so far, along with Overwatch’s many different modes:
In Overwatch, players join the ranks of a legendary force of soldiers, scientists, adventurers, and oddities, and clash on the battlefields of a near-future Earth. The game features a diverse cast of 21 heroes—each with their own unique arsenal of extraordinary weapons and incredible abilities. Teamwork is critical as players complete objectives, swap heroes on the fly, and combine their powers to game-changing effect—the action is intense, immediate, and fun.
Since the world last caught up with Overwatch at BlizzCon 2015, Blizzard has introduced a number of game features in the ongoing closed beta test. In a new map type, “Control,” teams battle to capture and hold objectives in locations such as an omnic village in the mountains of Nepal and a high-tech skyscraper in a Chinese metropolis. Overwatch’s new progression system awards players with Loot Boxes containing an array of cosmetic items to personalize heroes, including sprays, emotes, voice lines, and skins such as Punk Tracer and Safari Winston.
In addition to “Quick Play” mode, which automatically matches players with teammates and opponents of similar skill online, players can test their mettle against computer-controlled opponents in a new “Play Vs AI” mode, while “Custom Games” allow players to set special rules for hero switching, damage modifiers, and more.
Players who haven’t had the chance to try Overwatch yet will be able to participate in an Open Beta scheduled to take place May 5-9 on all three platforms. But if you’re already convinced that it’ll be great, prospective players who pre-order the game by April 29 will receive early access to the Open Beta beginning on May 3.
Microsoft cancels Fable Legends and makes plans to close Lionhead Studios
There are big changes happening at Microsoft Games Studios this morning.
After several starts and stops over the years, Microsoft has announced plans to cease development on Fable Legends. This announcement comes just a few months after developer Lionhead Studios delayed the free-to-play title’s launch from Late 2015 to Spring 2016. Sadly, it’s not just the end for Fable Legends, Microsoft is currently in discussions with representatives from Lionhead about the proposed closure of the studio.
Microsoft also confirmed that Press Play Studios, the team behind Max: The Curse of Brotherhood and Kalimba, will also close its doors. The Danish studio was working on a multiplayer survival game known as Project Knoxville, but it too will be canceled.
Microsoft released a statement about the closures through the Xbox Wire:
These have been tough decisions and we have not made them lightly, nor are they a reflection on these development teams – we are incredibly fortunate to have the talent, creativity and commitment of the people at these studios. The Lionhead Studios team has delighted millions of fans with the Fable series over the past decade. Press Play imbued the industry with a unique creative spirit behind games like Max: The Curse of Brotherhood and Kalimba, which both captured passionate fans. These changes are taking effect as Microsoft Studios continues to focus its investment and development on the games and franchises that fans find most exciting and want to play.
We wish everyone at Lionhead and Press Play the best of luck in the future.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Fable Legends
Here’s your first look at Obduction, Cyan’s spiritual successor to Myst
Myst changed everything when it was released in 1993. The puzzle game popularized the first-person exploration genre, kickstarted the adoption of CD-ROM technology, and became the best-selling PC game of all time (a record it held for almost a decade). After creating a handful of sequels and an online-only spinoff, developer Cyan is working on a spiritual successor to Myst that’ll be available this June.
Obduction will take place on an alien world that is also home to a farmhouse from Kansas and other locales that properly belong on Earth. Somehow, these buildings have merged with this alien world, but by piecing together a series of clues, players might be able to return home.
The first teaser trailer for Obduction has been embedded above, but be warned, Cyan said it may include potential spoilers.
Tusk crushes his enemies in the latest Killer Instinct Season 3 trailer
Iron Galaxy has returned with another new trailer for Killer Instinct Season 3, this time focusing on the immortal barbarian Tusk. Last seen in 1996’s Killer Instinct 2, Tusk is still an homage to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Conan at his core, but the character’s voice actor also seems to be channeling Chris Hemsworth’s Thor.
Tusk will be part of the initial quartet of characters in Killer Instinct Season 3, which will be released for the PC and Xbox One on March 29. If you want a closer look at Tusk, developers from Iron Galaxy recently uploaded a 90-minute steam starring the character.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Killer Instinct
New Releases: Tom Clancy’s The Division, Hitman, WWE 2K16 for PC
Just three new releases will be available on store shelves this week, and one of them is just a Season Pass to a year-long episodic adventure.
Leading off the week is Tom Clancy’s The Division, which will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Players will join up with the titular peacekeeping organization as they team up with other players from around the world to investigate a terrorist attack in New York City on Black Friday.
Also available this week is Hitman, IO Interactive’s latest entry in the long-running series. Agent 47 is back, but we won’t get to experience all of his new missions right away. Instead, IO and Square Enix will release the game episodically, but players can buy in to the whole series now for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Finally this week, 2K Games and the WWE will slam their way onto Steam with WWE 2K16‘s PC debut.
No Man’s Sky will be released for PC, PS4 on June 21
After years of toil, a flood of biblical proportions, and a chat with Mr. Stephen Colbert, Hello Games is finally ready to announce that No Man’s Sky will be released for the PC and PS4 on June 21.
While the developer doesn’t have a new trailer to mark the occasion, they did reveal that No Man’s Sky will be available to purchase for the PC (as a digital download) and the PS4 (as a digital download through the PlayStation Store and as a Blu-ray disc at your game store). They also confirmed that players will interact with aliens throughout the course of the game, and will even need to decipher several alien languages to advance.
Managing Director Sean Murray stopped by the PlayStation Blog and spoke to SCEE Blog Manager Fred Dutton about this rather unexpected new feature:
In short, here’s how it works. As you travel around the universe you’ll encounter individuals from several distinct races. As with everything else in the game, how they look and what they say is procedurally generated based on a set of variables defined by the Hello Games team.
You’ll be able to trade with them, gain upgrades, learn more about the game’s lore, forge alliances and so forth. Sound straightforward? Well, not so fast.
[…]
“With NPCs in No Man’s Sky, you actually have to learn their language; they speak to you in their native tongue. The more you travel around the universe, the more you learn their language, and the more you can communicate with them.”
Murray used the remainder of the post to reveal a lot more about the game’s many alien languages and how players will interact with the various factions in the No Man’s Sky universe. I think it’s well worth your time.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged No Man's Sky
Bethesda wants you to help choose Doom’s alternate cover
The Internet had a bit of a meltdown when Bethesda revealed the official boxart for Doom last month. The rather generic-looking space marine and the garish yellow background didn’t provide the thrill that most longtime Doom fans were expecting. Especially since we grew up with this image.
Thankfully, Bethesda and id Software have seen the error of their ways and will offer an alternate cover on the reverse side of the sleeve. Fans will even get the chance to vote for their favorite in a Twitter poll that’ll be open until Monday, March 7. Option A depicts the dreaded Icon of Sin from Doom II: Hell On Earth, while Option B is a new take on the original Doom‘s cover:
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- Option A: The Icon of Sin
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- Option B: Remixed Original Cover
So what are you waiting for? Vote now:
Help us choose the reverse sleeve for #DOOM. Poll is open for 4 days #VoteLikeHell
— DOOM (@DOOM) March 3, 2016
Doom will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on May 13. And don’t forget, if you pre-order Soom through the Xbox Games Store, you’ll receive the first two games in the series for free.
UPDATE: Voting has closed and the people have overwhelmingly picked Option B!
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Doom (2016)
Tetropolis resurfaces as Refactor and it’s coming to PC, PS4 in 2016
Refactor originally popped up on our radar back in 2014 (more specifically, at PAX East 2014), when it was known as Tetropolis. Even back then, the action took place within a Metroidvania-style world that players explored through the eyes of a shape-shifting tetromino. The little guy was deemed inadequate to appear in “The Game,” but his powers gave him the perfect chance to escape.
Fast forward to today, and developer NextGen Pants has announced a partnership with Sony to bring Refactor to the PS4 and PC. Writing on the PlayStation Blog, lead developer Bob Webb expounded a bit more about the game’s mechanics:
For example, the square shape can be used to combat enemies or the line shape to leap great distances. These shapes can be further augmented by special abilities found throughout the world. While these powers are fairly standard for the metroidvania genre, we’ve turned it up a notch and have given you the ability to rearrange the map in a puzzle-like manner.
Set in a world that is a puzzle itself, you can literally turn the world upside down by rearranging the map. The rooms that make up the map can be reordered, moved around and even rotated, all in real time. It is up to you to construct new pathways to previously inaccessible areas, to solve mind-bending puzzles, and to uncover secrets in the world of Refactor.
Refactor will be released for the PC and PS4 sometime later this year.