First came the much-requested changes to   loadout drops , now   Warzone 2.0   is messing with the gulag. With season two’s arrival on February 15, the gulag will no longer make players team up in pairs of two after suffering defeat on the battle royale map. Instead, as in the original   Warzone , it will now focus on 1v1 skirmishes. Unlike in other battle royales,  Call of Duty ’s  Warzone  allows players a chance to jump back into the action after dying. If you’re killed by another player early enough in the game, you’ll get sent to the gulag (there had to have been a better name for that). Here, you’ll square off in a quick deathmatch mode to earn your place back on the main map.  Warzone   2.0 ’s gulag has two teams of two face off, with both members of the winning team rejoining the game. Around halfway through the gulag match, a high-damage-output, bullet-spongey NPC called “the Jailer” will emerge. If the Jailer is defeated, bot...

  The original release of PSP's   Ridge Racer 2   could be criticised for being almost exactly the same game as its predecessor, only with a few more tracks and modes. However, that doesn't really matter today, especially now it's one of the rare Ridge Racer titles playable on modern consoles. With its one blemish now moot, what we're left with is some of the most joyous, stylish, and satisfying arcade racing available — if you're a PS Plus Premium member. Essentially a series "greatest hits", this game cherry-picks courses and music from previous entries and features dozens of increasingly speedy vehicles to whip around all those sweeping corners. For fans in 2023, this is about as good as you can hope for — all the classics are here, and it's presented with crisp upscaled visuals, though it is a slight shame some elements remain untouched. Ridge Racer's core appeal lies in its emphasis on over-the-top, beautifully smooth, endlessly fun power-slid...

January used to be a slow month for new releases, but over the last couple of years, publishers and developers have taken advantage of this quiet gap in the gaming calendar to drop some pretty big games. This year is no different, and while the month ahead isn't crammed with new releases, it does have a fair number of high-profile games being dropped onto PC and console. The biggest releases of the month are a triple-threat of genres and ideas that are coming for your spare time. Square Enix's Forspoken looks like a cool action-RPG where you utilize fast-paced magical powers; the Dead Space remake is a reminder to always cut off the limbs of Necromorphs; and Nintendo's Fire Emblem Engage is shaping up to be a leaner and meaner chapter in the long-running tactical-RPG franchise. Anime fans also have plenty to look forward to, as a brand-new One Piece adventure and the release of two Persona ports will keep them occupied for dozens of hours. The Persona games being released, ...

  As expected, Epic Games Store has prepared a big hit for the first day of Christmas.  The game was developed by the Kojima Productions studio and published by 505 Games. In a break from family gatherings, PC players will have an opportunity to play as courier in the post-apocalyptic world for free. From December 25 to December 26, each Epic Games Store account holder can assign and download Death Stranding. The giveaway appears just as Kojima Productions announced the next installment in the series with a working title “Death Stranding 2”. What should be noted however is that the version that is currently available for free is not the Director’s Cut that was released this year, but the original version from 2020. System recommended specs list GeForce GTX 1060 6GB or Radeon RX 590 GPUs for good 1080p experience at 60 FPS. However, this game already supports NVIDIA DLSS2, so the performance may vary depending on support for this technology. Meanwhile, AMD FSR 2 and Intel XeSS ...

  Amazon's games division will publish the next big  Tomb Raider  sequel, a press release revealed today. The game will be developed by Crystal Dynamics—the same studio that made the reboot trilogy that included 2013's  Tomb Raider , 2015's  Rise of the Tomb Raider , and 2018's  Shadow of the Tomb Raider . Crystal Dynamics used to live under the umbrella of large, Japan-based international publisher Square-Enix, but the parent company sold Crystal Dynamics and the Tomb Raider intellectual property to Swedish holding company Embracer Group earlier this year. That sale also included the  Deus Ex ,  Thief , and  Legacy of Kain  franchises and associated studios—in other words, most of Square-Enix's Western studios and properties. It's a surprise to see Amazon publishing the next  Tomb Raider  game because Embracer owns its own publishers of games. But Crystal Dynamics studio head Scot Amos said in a statement t...

  Last week, it was The Game Awards. This annual event is a chance for developers and publishers to showcase their upcoming slate of games, with a smattering of awards in there as well. However, following this year's show, many couldn't help but notice that Microsoft's offerings seemed remarkably sparse. In fact, all we really got was a little 'games here and games coming in 2023' teaser from the team, but nothing particularly firm. Despite this being the ideal opportunity to do so, we still have not had specific release dates announced for the likes of Starfield or Redfall - two of Xbox's biggest upcoming exclusives. Xbox has now addressed those feeling a bit let down, promising that despite appearances 2023 will be an "incredibly exciting year" for its fans. Resharing Microsoft's promotional Game Pass reel, Xbox exec Aaron Greenberg stated the team has "a lot planned to show and share" for next year. "Appreciate folks are eager to ...

Elden Ring is one of the biggest video game success stories of 2022, but now its developer, FromSoftware, is making headlines due to rumors of crunch and low pay at its development studio. FromSoftware's latest title earned  widespread critical acclaim , and its quality has been  reflected in the sales charts as well . The game broke into the mainstream in a big way, having one of the  biggest game launches on YouTube ever . Unfortunately, like so many wildly successful AAA video game titles, it didn't take long for conversations of crunch, long overtime hours, and low salaries to surround developer FromSoftware. The discourse began in March, shortly after Elden Ring's release. First spotted by  The Gamer , it turns out that a handful of FromSoftware employees were turning to a Japanese job board called Career Connection to discuss poor working conditions and low pay. For context, Career Connection is essentially a Japanese version of Glassdoor, where ...