Latest articles by Austin Wood
Arc Raiders has a weird problem for a shooter: the worst guns in the game are really good
Feature Opinion | Which is probably a good thing
Genshin Impact fans rush to defend femboy god Venti and crop-topped male lead Aether after they're criticized on Turkish news channel: "They think he is a girl lmao"
News Venti did nothing wrong, as ever
Christmas comes early for Helldivers 2 players as Arrowhead adds a minigun, flamethrower drone, and a chain sword all in one glorious Warbond
News Helldivers 2 players have been very good soldiers
Team Cherry demonstrates the evolution between Hollow Knight and Silksong: "If the Last Judge had existed in the previous game, it would have probably been more of a big, round blob"
News Hornet's original move set was the basis for a normal enemy
Presumably praying people have room for another extraction shooter after Arc Raiders, Bungie opens Marathon signups for December playtest
News Marathon: still in the works, as a reminder
The median price of best-selling new games on Steam has dropped in the past 2 years, research finds: "Charging >$25 is getting trickier, as players compare value to the $10-$15 indie titles"
News The average has barely changed, but the median suggests a rise in cheap games
Silksong is shockingly cheap at just $20, but Team Cherry says it just tries to "price the games at a reasonable level for people," man
News So that's why Silksong is so cheap – that, and Hollow Knight money
After 4 years, Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail dev's mystery game seemingly revealed to be the open-world game Varsapura, in a trailer that screams Control so loud I'd bet Remedy heard it in Finland
news Varsapura looks to be the AAA open-world action-adventure game teased years ago
Ubisoft makes a big bet on "generative AI-driven gameplay" leading to "more interactive and engaging games," CEO says "this work reflects the direction we want to take"
News Ubisoft is integrating gen AI at all its studios and offices
Joining Valve's Gabe Newell at the altar of AI, Ubisoft CEO says the controversial tech will be "as big a revolution for our industry as the shift to 3D"
News Ubisoft is using generative AI "in all our studios and offices"
Arrowhead creative lead agrees with Helldivers 2 players, calls the game "a never-ending ping pong between 'it's so over' and 'we're so back,'" but says "we're trying to get better with each update"
News Johan Pilestedt tips his hat to the Helldivers 2 community's definition
Compared to Hollow Knight, Silksong "reworked how the bosses pick their attacks," and suddenly I realize why I got crushed so often
News Silksong is a different animal under the hood
Team Cherry hopes "if there were ever" new Hollow Knight games after Silksong, they could "just exist alongside one another" so the order you play them doesn't matter
News Ari Gibson and William Pellen ponder a hypothetical Hollow Knight 3
MMO players get a sailing skill, immediately become pirates channeling a famous 2006 disaster: "Piracy as emergent gameplay is honestly perfect"
News Old School RuneScape also added pirates, it turns out
Arc Raiders players were already grumbling, and after another patch of nerfs a fierce debate brews: crafting UI is definitely a mess, but should the stash actually get buffed?
News If you need me, I'll be organizing my bandage collection
Microsoft shares study of gamers that reckons a whopping 79% are "open to help from AI," but let's all stop to consider the sample size: 1,500 people
News Xbox-published Culture of Play report also finds most people think gaming is getting better
I tried an Arc Raiders community tip for hunting blueprints after 40 hours of next to nothing, and I found my most-wanted blueprint almost immediately
Feature That's one Wolfpack blueprint into the pocket
"When I was growing up, games were designed to be fun, not manipulative": Path of Exile co-creator shines a blacklight on the "bulls**t" design tricks infesting all my live service games
News Chris Wilson interrogates the "Dark Patterns" of modern game design
MMO players are unstoppable: Handed a new skill after 19 years, Old School RuneScape fans instantly force the devs to hotfix a Sailing XP flood over "Daddy's Special Water's special water"
News Old School RuneScape Sailing release sees predictable early XP exploit
"Gen Z loves AI slop," says former Square Enix exec, which means that Arc Raiders' controversial AI usage is just "the tip of the spear"
News "Activision isn't shying away from AI, neither is ARC Raiders," reckons Jacob Navok
"Hytale is saved": Riot sells Hytale back to Hypixel founders, who promise 10 years of support, an early access date soon, and a return to the "original vision"
News Hytale is back, again
Dispatch dev says "there was no glitch" causing a bad ending, it's just you
News AdHoc explains concerns of bugged episodes
Lore hero condenses all of Silksong, including a cut ending, into a lightweight 77 minutes: "THE SACRED TEXTS ARE HERE"
News Bring some popcorn
