Sanitised F1 75 launch event was saved by its edgy host Jack Whitehall
You can almost imagine the planning meetings at Formula 1 headquarters ahead of the sport’s first live season launch event, held at the O2 Arena in London last night. What would appeal most to broadest possible demographic of new, young fans? Smiling drivers and team principals. “Inspirational” brand videos from...
🐻 Avowed has me conflicted. The main story sounds like a chore and I prefer immersive sim RPGs to its more static world, but I really enjoyed this week’s episode of The Besties, which covered some of the more innovative features Obsidian has brought to the table. These include speech checks more involved than “is X greater than Y”, and graceful, immersive dialogue when the player stumbles upon quest locations earlier than planned.
Sega and Sports Interactive were right to cancel Football Manager 25
If you read this blog regularly, you’ll likely agree that the games industry in 2025 is a Wild West of anti-consumer practices. Developers and publishers seem set on milking as much money from customers as possible, regardless of the damage done to beloved series or the reputations of the companies...
The government won't protect your access to live service games
An attempt to protect gamers against publishers’ abrupt shuttering - or “sunsetting” - of live service games failed this week, after the government stated that there are “no plans to amend UK consumer law on disabling video games”. A petition that had passed the 10,000-signature threshold for parliamentary discussion was...
⚔️ Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 looks fantastic. Having watched some of the gameplay circulating online, it strikes me as what I thought a Bethesda RPG might look like by 2025 back when I was playing Oblivion. I don’t know when I’ll next have the time to put aside for such a sprawling adventure, but it’s certainly earned a place on my backlog for when I do.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Tarantino's novel kills the mystery
As the first Quentin Tarantino film I saw at the cinema, I have a something of a soft spot for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). While I wasn’t as keen on the typically violent ending, the picture the director painted of 1960s Los Angeles was captivating, perfectly complemented...
🏁 Forza Horizon 5 is coming to PlayStation 5 this spring. Another Xbox crown jewel landing on Sony’s console raises some interesting questions about the future of the games industry. If all the studios Microsoft bought are too costly to run on Xbox sales alone and their games must be released more widely, what reason will be left to buy an Xbox to begin with?
GTA VI might get away with a $100 price tag, but your game can't
After a decade-long wait and with development costs reportedly stretching into the billions, it has long been rumoured that Rockstar might try to crank up the price of Grand Theft Auto VI when it launches. The standard price for games has already increased from £50 to £60 in recent years,...
🏯 Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been delayed again. The release date for Ubisoft’s controversial title has dropped to 20th March to allow extra time for polish. To appease fans, the developer released a video showing off the game’s parkour. However, the environments steal the show for me. I have little confidence in its story or gameplay, but I might well be tempted to explore the world once Shadows is fully patched and heavily discounted.
The Pathless Path: A call to action to escape your desk job
In The Pathless Path, Paul Millerd makes the case that life should be about more than work, and that people should invest more time and effort in finding their true calling - one that is more engaging and fulfilling than the daily grind. A rough representation of the daydream The...
