This is the version which arrived first for PlayStation 5 last summer, now with Intel’s fancy XeSS super sampling technology too. It adds extra story snippets, fresh gadgets and handy tweaks. Digital Foundry dubbed Death Stranding’s Directors Cut upgrade a “beautifully-tailored PS5 experience” that was worth the money. Speaking of money, there’s no word today on the ability to upgrade existing PC copies of Death Stranding to this Director’s Cut version....

Word of a new Twisted Metal game first surfaced last September, when GamesBeat journalist Jeff Grubb claimed the project was in early development. Shortly after, VGC offered additional details, reporting Lucid Games would be the studio handling the new instalment and that the project would follow Destruction All-Stars’ lead as a free-to-play game. In a follow-up to that initial story, however, VGC now reports the project has seen a significant shakeup, with its sources claiming Sony has made the decision to ditch Lucid Games as the developer of its new Twisted Metal title and move the project to an unnamed first-party studio elsewhere in Europe....

Details are extremely limited right now, but Red Candle describes Nine Sols (a working title at present) as a “lore rich hand-drawn 2D platformer with Sekiro-inspired deflection-focused combat”. The developer has also shared a wonderfully evocative bit of promo art that - while a significant aesthetic departure from its previous games - does suggest, with its mangled limbs and pools of blood, that we’re not exactly in family friendly territory here....

The talented actor, best known for his roles in The Wire and Boardwalk Empire, died yesterday at his home in New York City. He was 54. As well as his many film and TV roles, Williams was known to Battlefield fans as the voice and performance artist behind Sgt. Kimble Graves, better known as Irish. Williams starred as Irish in 2013’s Battlefield 4, and is set to be seen as him again in Battlefield 2042, due for release on 22nd October....

Demi Schänzel is a researcher and game designer from Aotearoa (New Zealand), who advocates for “compassionate design practices and digital kindness.” They are the creator of Library of Babble, one of the most extraordinary digital spaces I have ever explored. In the Library, visitors can read messages from other people and leave their own - and they navigate a shifting landscape of scintillating Miami cocktail colours. It was a real pleasure to chat to Demi last year and learn about how the Library came together....

A blog post by Midnight Society’s Robert Bowling (formerly community manager of Call of Duty studio Infinity Ward) explained that the studio wanted to invite its “Day Zero community”, which are already part of the studio’s Discord, to become paid-up early access members. These members will pay $50 (or the equivalent in planet-burning Ethereum cryptocurrency) for a Founders Pass NFT which grants membership benefits, plus a unique, procedurally generated “VisorCortex” helmet design....

Reports have emerged that EA would no longer distribute physical games in German-speaking countries, according to its latest annual report. However, it seems this was misinterpreted as EA confirms this is incorrect. Watch on YouTube FIFA 23 | Official Launch Trailer | Matchday For The World’s Game “We have not stopped physical distribution of our games in Germany, Austria or Switzerland and players will continue to be able to buy our games from retailers across the region,” reads a statement from EA sent to Eurogamer....

GeForce Now, which lets subscribers stream and play games they’ve purchased from the likes of Steam and the Epic Store on a range of different devices (provided Nvidia has secured the rights), is adding a total 14 new titles the service this month. EA’s offerings are far from being the most current - GeForce Now subscribers can now stream the Steam and Origin versions of Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, Battlefield 1 Revolution, and Unravel Two - but they’re perhaps most notable in terms of significance....

Background: one of my favourite video game stories of 2021 was the time when Jota had to quit a FIFA 22 tournament early to play a real-life match that afternoon - and performed a gamer celebration after scoring after just 97 seconds. Jota celebrated by sitting down and pretending to play FIFA. (Jota continued his impressive form in front of goal by adding a second goal later in the first half....

But it doesn’t end there. To add insult to injury, this listing wasn’t simply for the standard copy of the game. It was, in fact, for the Ultimate Edition. As noted by PC Gamer, this means those who purchased this version of the game at its mislisted price got it for a discount of 99.98 percent, as EA is honouring these purchases. “We scored a pretty spectacular own-goal when we inadvertently offered FIFA 23 pre-purchase on the Epic Games Store at an incorrect price,” the company wrote in a letter following its slip up....

In a statement issued to Eurogamer, EA echoed many of its recent comments on Ultimate Team’s card packs, which have come under fire from children’s groups and researchers in recent years for their links to gambling, and from players for enabling pay-to-win in competitive modes. “We wholeheartedly believe that Ultimate Team and FUT Packs, which have been part of the game for more than a decade, are a part of FIFA that players love - fans love that the game reflects the real-world excitement and strategy of building and managing a squad....

“Similar to Respawn, our orientation isn’t to come in and take over Codemasters; our orientation isn’t to come in and turn Codemasters into another Electronic Arts studio; our orientation is around the provision of opportunity,” Wilson said. “This industry is all about amazing, creative talent. And we see little upside in the indoctrination of that amazing creative talent. But we do want to provide them access to the things that we get by virtue of our position in the industry....

eFootball’s second year kicks off as an update to the existing free-to-play game, with the summer’s transfers reflected in team lineups. eFootball 2023 sees the return of officially-licensed Italian clubs AC Milan and Inter, as well as the addition of Liga BBVA MX, which brings all 18 Mexican clubs, their players and the Estadio Azteca to the game. Konami sees eFootball - what was once the Pro Evolution Soccer series - as a regularly-updated, free-to-download live service....

Hoolopee, a London-based 3D artist and VFX supervisor, has reimagined Elden Ring’s trailer to do just that. Now you can witness the Lands Between with all the low-res, shimmering textures and polygonal character models you might expect of a 90s classic. The trailer is made in the 3D software package Blender and runs in real-time. Hoolopee also shared some comparison images with Eurogamer. Check out the trailer and images below....

Upon trying to enter Stormveil Castle, Margit will ambush the player in a dramatic showdown, and to gain entrance to the castle itself, you’re going to have to go through him. Margit the Fell Omen is a tough boss, with brutal sweeping attacks, which evolve throughout the fight, and a large health pool to draw from. You’re going to have a tough time beating Margit the Fell Omen, especially if you’re going it alone through Elden Ring, but there’s some excellent tips and tricks to fell the boss....

In a statement posted yesterday, the publisher admitted it had “become clear that the possibility of external leakage of information… cannot be denied”. This may include, as Bandai Namco admitted back in July, “customer information” of some nature. Exactly what data was available to hackers remains unclear - as does the extent of the breach or what Bandai Namco thinks may have been accessed or taken. Indeed, today’s update is frustratingly thin on details and progress made over the past two months....

This is a minimalist city builder that is truly lovely to play with. Rotate the pieces you’re given, find homes for them, and then work out how to connect the next pieces that come along, how to make the most of their strange angles and how to eradicate any difficult gaps. It’s a game that makes you fret endlessly over negative space. Slowly, though, it becomes clear that there is more going on....

Eurogamer has run a reporter internship for a few years now, and after a hiatus last year due to coronavirus we hope to run it again in 2021. But before then, we are looking for two work experience reporters to join us in a new programme open exclusively to applicants from ethnic minorities who live in the UK. Why are we doing this? The games media has a diversity problem - this website especially....

Last week, Commission member Ricardo Cardoso tweeted to say that the organisation was “working to ensure that you will still be able to play Call of Duty on other consoles (including my PlayStation).” On the one hand, the comment simply describes the situation as Microsoft has too - that Activision’s blockbuster shooter franchise will remain on Sony platforms “as long as there’s a PlayStation out there to ship to”. On the other, fans expressed surprise a Commission staff member was discussing the matter publicly, and expressing an opinion which seemed mostly concerned with their own console choice....

She is Lottie Lynn and much to our benefit, the coin she flipped landed on ‘writing’, something that’s been a driving force in her life. She’s published short stories and is working on not one but two novels now, at the same time, as you do. Moreover, she’s one of the only people I know to still write a lot of this by hand. She fills piles of notebooks with meticulous handwriting even while sitting by her computer in the office - a hybrid approach, I suppose she’d call it....