The real-time strategy game had been set to arrive on 31st March. Its postponement was confirmed today in a statement from developer The Aristocrats and publisher Slitherine Software. A need for “a few extra months of further polish and bug fixing” was given as the reason. “We know many will find this announcement disappointing and we apologise,” a statement by the companies said. “We intend to deliver a finished and polished game, and it is very important for us that you are able to fully enjoy the game from day one, without any issue spoiling your fun or without having to wait for future patches or hotfixes....

It turns out hair and fur textures absolutely tank performance, with Twitter user AkiraJkr reporting frame rates as low as 8FPS (thanks, PC Gamer). Fortunately, modders have found a way to mitigate the issue, albeit in a rather drastic way. Reddit user MorrisonGamer has adapted a tool to toggle shaders on or off to improve performance, including one to make everyone in the game bald. If you can tolerate the hair loss, you’ll be compensated with a considerable gain in framerate....

Youtube channel 64 Bits has released a demake video showing what Stray would look like if it had been released on a Game Boy. This includes textures and sounds, and to be honest, it looks great! The video itself offers a ‘highlight reel’ of Stray’s opening chapters. It shows the titular stray cat’s sudden separation from their clowder, and their descent into the chasm leading to an unpopulated underground city....

Modder NorskPL is taking commissions for Stray on a name-your-own-price basis, dependent on complexity. Already, it seems people have been calling upon NorskPL’s services, as their most recent uploads include many requested cat customeowsations. For people that do want to change the default cat and aren’t modders, most are having to rely on finding mods which look similar to their cat, but may not be 100 percent cat-ccurate. It’s lovely to see modders helping others get their pets into the game, as some players have voiced disappointment at not being able to change the look of playable tabby, as purrty as they are....

Dropping on 29th March, the update will include “a new battle balance update, cel-shading filter, pixel filter, new tracksuit colours, and Cap-Jams remixes in-game”. Check out the highlights in the new video below: Beyond that, details are pretty scarce, but as NME points out, the changes seem to include tweaks to Ryu’s target combos - they can now launch the opponents and knock them out of special moves - as well as some new EX-moves....

In the wake of the game’s appearance on Thursday’s PlayStation State of Play presentation, images purporting to be of 22 Street Fighter 6 characters - many of whom had yet to be formally revealed - popped up online, including all eight World Warriors from Street Fighter 2. That wasn’t all, though - the leak also included video clips of the characters, too. “As residents of Metro City, we’ve all seen things we weren’t supposed to see, but we’re all in this together,” Capcom said in a candid tweet posted to the official Street Fighter channel....

Along with this news, we also have a new trailer for the Bioshock-like shooter, which you can see below. ORIGINAL STORY 11am UK: It looks all but officially confirmed that Atomic Heart will be finally arriving on 21st February 2023. On its release, Atomic Heart will be available on Xbox and PlayStation consoles, as well as PC. Additionally, it will be launching on Game Pass. Previously Mundfish had the game pegged down to arrive sometime during a month ending in ‘BER’, implying the latter part of 2022....

Essentially a beta ahead of the full launch on April 29th, the online play test allows you to play matches of Bowling, Tennis and Chambara against random players online. Taking place over the weekend across five sessions, there should be a time for everyone to take part regardless of your time zone. On this page: Bear in mind this is exclusively for those with access (which is free for everyone - see the next section for how to get involved) and if you have an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription....

System Shock 2 Enhanced Edition was initially announced back in 2019, and while Nightdive wasn’t particularly forthcoming regarding the specific enhancements fans could expect on its release, the developer did confirm the game would include improvements to co-op play and employ the same engine used to create its enhanced version of System Shock 1 - which added the likes of 4K support, achievements, and improved controls. Little has been seen of the project since that initial unveiling, leaving fans to ponder its progress, but now System Shock 2 Enhanced Edition has resurfaced in a new tweet from Nightdive, with the developer revealing a surprise new feature in the form of VR support....

According to Reuters, Tencent traditionally acquired minority stakes and was content with being a “passive financial investor”, but it is now “aggressively seeking to own majority or even controlling stakes in overseas targets”, chiefly in the “core gaming sector”. Metaverse assets are also reportedly of interest to Tencent. Citing “four people with direct knowledge of the matter”, Reuters adds that the shift in Tencent’s M&A strategy “comes as the world’s number one gaming firm by revenue is counting on global markets for its future growth, which requires a strong portfolio of chart-topping games” and follows regulatory issues in its home country....

The Convergence Team - a group of three modders - created a celebrated mod for Dark Souls 3 that significantly altered the main game. It added new character classes, over 100 new spells, new rings, armours and weapons, new factions, and even new NPCs and bosses. It looks like Elden Ring will be getting the same treatment. “The stars have aligned, The Convergence is nigh!” said the team in a tweet....

As with previous entries in the series, the game concludes with a trailer for the series’ next title - which has already been posted online. However, unlike previous entries to the series, the upcoming game - known as Directive 8020 - looks set to take players to space. Yes, this will be yet another game to add to the ever-growing space-horror genre which is having quite the renaissance of late (looking at you Callisto Protocol, Dead Space Remake and Fort Solis)....

In summary, both quality and performance options run with a fully unlocked frame-rate. Kicking off with the quality mode, PS5 and Series X run at a fixed 4K - 3840x2160 - while Series S renders at 2560x1440. There’s no dynamic resolution scaling in quality mode, meaning that performance adjusts constantly in order to keep resolutions rigidly fixed at these targets. DRS is possible though: it’s integrated into the alternative frame-rate mode for every current-gen console....

As spotted by Kotaku, the commissioner of the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC), Ian Smith, said the organisation was working alongside the FBI on an ongoing investigation into “a relatively small but significant group of players over a long period of time, organising match fixing in North American MDL”. “[It’s] what I would describe as classic match-fixing - players being bribed by outside betting syndicates in order to fix matches, rather than players just doing it off their own bat opportunistically....

Straley broke the news of his return in a video shared on Twitter, explaining, “In 2017, I left the industry not sure if I wanted to make games anymore, but the longer I was away, I kept thinking about this medium, and everything yet to be done and everything I wanted to do still - and this idea kept following me.” “So I grabbed some friends,” Straley continued, “and we started prototyping and the idea started getting good, it started becoming exciting again, and I realised I need to make this game....

First of all, the experience is actually split into three separate and distinct sections. The first is a character showcase, with Epic successfully creating digital models of both Keanu Reeves (Neo) and Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity) - rendered as they are today, but also as they were in the original Matrix trilogy. What we’re seeing in these initial scenes is a fascinating mixture of both library assets and fully real-time rendered characters, and it’s actually been quite fascinating for us at Digital Foundry to attempt to pick out which is which!...

While £9 isn’t the biggest of savings, this is the cheapest we’ve seen the console selling for on its own since before Christmas at AO, who were selling it for £299 with a new account discount code. Nintendo Switch OLED - Neon - £299.95 at The Game Collection Nintendo Switch OLED - White - £299.95 at The Game Collection Buying the Switch OLED on its own has its perks, especially if you’re upgrading from the standard Switch or Switch Lite and already own the games included in current available bundles....

Stadia, of course, launched to much fanfare in 2019, and part of Google’s promise to early adopters was that the service would bring its own console-like exclusives from both first- and third-parties. To that end, Google established its own internal game development studio and signed deals with external developers, including Supermassive, as announced in 2020. Those plans, however, changed dramatically just 14 months after Stadia’s high-profile arrival, with Google announcing a major rethink of its cloud streaming strategy following a less-than-stellar launch, which included the cancellation of all internal game development as it began prioritising selling its tech to third-parties....

The Sims 4 introduced Scenarios back in late November last year, and this scenario asks you to get your hands on everything frog - whether that means looking in filthy ponds, moss-covered logs or just putting your hands in the nearest water pump. The full scenario reads: “A Sim is frantically trying to gather all the frog facts of the world. After all, frogs are ribbiting creatures that can be used for a whole slew of things…even breeding!...

Acknowledging that “part of the success” of the sequel “undeniably goes to the game’s remarkable score”, the team held an “exceptional concert for the occasion of the game’s release” which is now available on YouTube. “A Plague Tale: Requiem, the spectacular, grounded medieval adventure within a violent fantasy world, has been nominated in no less than five categories for The Game Awards 2022, including the coveted Game of the Year award!...