Although Starfield stands as one of Bethesda Game Studios' most ambitious RPG projects to date, it didn't exactly outshine the likes of The Elder Scrolls or Fallout – and that may just be because it was a bit too ambitious.

Speaking to FRVR, Starfield lead systems designer Kurt Kuhlmann admits as much, first explaining how everything being "new" – because, you know, the space RPG did see the "largest engine overhaul" from Bethesda since the original Oblivion – complicated things right off the bat.

Developers "needed this new system to work" before building on it, he says, "and the later that goes, the less time you have to work with it." The size of the team working on Starfield was simply not it either, considering the sheer scope.

"Even with the size of the team that we had for Starfield, it wasn't big enough to create the amount of content that the grand idea of the game really required," as Kuhlmann recalls. "Like, we needed way more [devs]."

Why was the scope so wide for Starfield, though? Well, Bethesda head Todd Howard wanted it to be one heck of a game.

"He wanted to make a big open-world space game which, to him, wasn't Skyrim in space and you just go on this one planet and then a bit on this other planet," says Kuhlmann.

And, while "it is what we built," the lead says it might've been a bad idea. "That is an ambitious as hell vision, and I don't think, especially in retrospect, we shouldn't have made it. We couldn’t really make it." Bethesda did do its best, however.

As Kuhlmann concludes, "We pulled it off to quite an impressive degree, but yeah, it was not our forte. It was not leaning to our strengths."

I suppose I can see that – as a usual fan of all things Bethesda myself, Starfield didn't exactly mesh well with my tastes. I would've much rather played The Elder Scrolls 6 (sigh), but I am glad to see studios try new things – even if they don't always work out as well as they could've.

"Most people wanted" to make The Elder Scrolls 6 after Fallout 4, says Skyrim co-lead, but then Todd Howard said "No, we're doing Starfield"

A couple of weeks ago, Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 provided us with our first look at both The Witcher 3 Remastered and CD Projekt Red's brand-new expansion for the RPG, Songs of the Past – an expansion that wouldn't have happened without the remaster.

Or, at least, that's what CD Projekt Red says in a recent interview with BBC News over on YouTube.

As Jakub Rokosz, game director behind both The Witcher 3 and now Songs of the Past, recalls, "the stars had to align and the conditions had to be just right to make this [the new expansion] happen." And right they became, as "the story of Dandelion's past and homeland came into our spotlight" at the perfect time.

Right when "CD Projekt Red started talking to us about about doing it," other "work on the remaster" was underway – "and those two things are intertwined in a way that the realization of Letten, Dandelion's hometown, wouldn't be possible without the remaster upgrades."

As Rokosz concludes, "there are a few things that had to click together" to make Songs of the Past "possible." And, thankfully, those things did indeed click.

Considering the sheer scope of Songs of the Past, I'm honestly not too surprised to hear Rokosz say that The Witcher 3 Remastered was practically necessary to make the expansion work.

After all, the original RPG from CD Projekt Red launched way back in 2015, leaving over a decade of technological advancements between then and now. Plus, it sounds like the remaster will be quite the overhaul, also.

We've got everything from "improved combat" to massively reworked visuals to look forward to, at times making it sound more like a remake than a remaster, honestly.

It's one heck of an undertaking for developers, undoubtedly, anyway, considering all of the other upcoming CD Projekt Red games, too. Coupled with Songs of the Past – which Rokosz makes seem huge as well – we Witcher stans have a lot to be excited about.

After 20 years voicing Geralt, The Witcher 3 star Doug Cockle says revisiting his character for Songs of the Past is "like slipping into a warm bath"

The new Fable has the unenviable position of bringing the series to a contemporary audience. After all, it's been 16 years since Fable 3, the last mainline entry. Playground Games is taking that responsibility seriously, with combat that merges new school and more classical mechanics.

"When we're talking about being faithful to the classic franchise, we thought about how there was an approachability to combat there," Will Kennedy, associate game director, explained to TechRadar. "And we knew that we wanted to be able to capture some of that for our game as well. But at the same time, we're making a game for gaming today."

It's a tricky balance. Fable has a lot of fans who've been waiting around for another installment - myself included - and we want this sequel to feel like the other games. But game development has evolved, and you don't want to alienate newcomers for the sake of making sure it still feels like 2009 to our old, decrepit hands.

"We wanted there to be breadth and depth to it, so we landed on wanting to have style-weaving combat," he says. "We wanted to be able to move from move to move really smoothly and easily, and that combined with the level expression that you've got."

The system Playground Games created is all about versatility. You can edit your loadout from the top down, and you have four spell slots to tinker with to see what works for you. Kennedy notes that you won't be playing long before "you have a really broad, deep, rich suite of options to choose from."

He adds the team is "really proud" of how "satisfying" the RPG feels. "We've landed somewhere that is still approachable but has that depth that we want and so therefore is faithful but works in gaming today as well for players, which is sometimes to be proud of," he finishes.

We'll see just what he means when Fable arrives in February 2027.

Fable devs originally had a tool to randomize the RPG's 1,000 NPCs that "would have saved us so much time," but that "just didn't make as much sense"

An important piece of gaming history has been preserved today, as a leaker has released the ROM files for Project Dream, a canceled proof-of-concept for a Rare-developed pirate RPG that would eventually become the basis for the beloved Banjo-Kazooie series.

You can check out a video of the alpha footage below, and if you do, you'll probably find it hard to believe that this game was originally intended to release on the 16-bit Super Nintendo. The sole character model and jungle environments look more advanced than anything that released on the SNES, and it was only a prototype for the full game, which was canceled and reworked by Rare in 1997 after 16 months in development, largely due to technical problems.

To be clear, Rare itself hasn't been shy to talk about or even show footage of Project Dream, but this is the first time it's been made widely available online. The leaker, who only says they obtained the prototype "from someone who got it from someone, who got it from somewhere," says in a manifesto-style writeup that they chose now to release everything to help offset all of the evils of the world.

"With the current state of the industry and Microsoft's current heartless gutting and mismanagement of Rare and other companies it controls, plus with how long it's been, I feel it's more important to make sure this is properly preserved, and the ROM dissected by people with far more knowledge on how to do such things," says the leaker.

"I hope by releasing this, that it also inspires other people to release what they have as well. I know the Twelve Tales Conker 64 prototype is out there somewhere, but sadly, this is the only thing that I have."

It's hard to get much more explicit than that, but the uploader, who goes by FvckAsha&Phil online – an apparent reference to Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and her predecessor, Phil Spencer – goes even further to explain why Project Dream is surfacing online now of all times.

"There is little joy left in the industry, as it relentlessly marches towards AI, layoffs, l anti-preservation and ownership tactics, and, in Microsoft’s case, the support and approval of literal genocide in Gaza.

"Let's get the last beautiful things hiding on our hard drives out there for everyone. That's all we have left," says the leaker, imploring readers to "Please delete Microsoft and Sony from your lives, install Linux, boycott Switch Game Key Cards and buy Nintendo Switch 2 titles that still come with the full game on the cartridge.

"Your dollar is the only thing that counts in our late stage capitalist hellscape."

Rare was heavily impacted by Microsoft's unprecedented downsizing that began in July with the gutting of 1,600 jobs and which will result in a further 1,600 redundancies by the end of the company's 2027 fiscal year. Rare's would-be next game, Everwild, was canceled in the blitz after six years of development. This is amid a seemingly endless era of downsizing in the games industry that saw an estimated 45,000 cut jobs between 2022 and 2025.

We'll never know if Project Dream would've joined the ranks of the best SNES games of all time.

The Blood of Dawnwalker has been out for a good few days now, giving Rebel Wolves – the studio headed by CD Projekt Red veterans with credits on bangers like The Witcher 3 – time to patch its new vampire RPG up a bit with hotfixes.

And that it has, with the latest little patch to drop for The Blood of Dawnwalker being an especially, erm, amusing one. Hotfix 1.0.4, as it's officially dubbed, might not be a huge update, per se – but it brings a good few much-needed fixes… and some hilarious tweaks, too.

I mean, as per the patch notes, one of the noted highlights is literally that "torches can no longer grow uncontrollably," because of course it is.

Another one of my favorite notes also has to be the fact that, uh "dead NPCs can no longer start dialogues" now. Although I never encountered that bug myself, thinking of a deceased guard or zombie nun speaking to Coen is truly wonderful.

That's not all, either – if you remember that placeholder dev asset Rebel Wolves (likely) accidentally used in The Blood of Dawnwalker's prologue, you'll be happy to learn it's gone.

You know, the one that was bright red and labeled "DO NOT USE" over and over again? As the studio writes in its patch notes for the RPG, "We are no longer using that one red pipe asset we weren't supposed to use."

As funny as it is, I'm sure it was a bit of an immersion-breaker in the silver mines, so it's nice to see the devs have removed it. That's not to say there aren't some more "serious" fixes, though.

Rebel Wolves tackles plenty of bugs, crashes, and soft locks in 1.0.4, while also explaining that the devs have "improved the game's stability" overall with the hotfix. So, it's not all laughs, but I'm personally here for the parts that are.

As for what's next, the studio likely has a lot up its sleeve, as so far, we've just seen smaller patches. I'm keeping my own fingers crossed for a combat rework of sorts… but I know that's a hot take.

I suppose we'll just have to wait. One thing's for certain, however – whatever Rebel Wolves drops in the future won't be nearly as silly as this hotfix, with all of its seemingly random adjustments.

Read our The Blood of Dawnwalker review to find out why we think it has "clear Witcher DNA" if you're thinking about playing one of this year's biggest new games yourself.

Raid codes are still in high demand for this long-running turn-based RPG, as players do the bidding of the Arbiter and work towards defeating the Dark Lord Siroth. If you want to restore peace to the realm of Teleria then you're going to need strong fighters and plenty of resources, so it's handy that there are promos specifically for new players to unlock a Champion, along with separate rewards for regulars. To find out more, here are all of the Raid Shadow Legends promo codes and how to redeem them.

All Raid codes

The following Raid Shadow Legends codes can be claimed by all players:

• RAIDAUTUMN – 50x Multi-battles, 1x Five-star Chicken, 300,000x Silver
• HAPPYBDAYUDK – 300,000x Silver, 15x Brews, 50x Auto-battles
• Dorothy – 1x Full Energy, 1x Four-star Chicken
• INTHEWEB – 250x Energy, 500,000x Silver, 15x Brews
• raidwebstore – 500,000x Silver, 5x Energy Potions, 1x Five-star Chicken
• TOALLFROMMID – 150x Auto-battles, 30x Brews, 300,000x Silver, 100x Energy
• RAIDSHADOWLEGENDSCOM – 15x Brews, 1x Five-star Chicken, 50x Auto-battles, 250x Energy
• raidtogether – 200x Energy, 500,000x Silver, 15x XP Brews.
• HUNTINRAID – 1x Five-star Chicken, 1x Full Energy Refill, 15x XP Brews, 300,000x Silver
• midgamejoke – 50x Multi-battles, 1x Five-star Chicken, 1x XP Brew, 1x Mystery Shard, 100,000x Silver, 1x Energy
• midlove – 15x XP Brews, 100x Multi-battles, 150,000x Silver
• DearSirNicholas – 50x Multi-battles, 1x Epic Tome, 300,000x Silver, 1x Energy Refill
• RAIDBROTHERHOOD – 1x Five-star Chicken, 300,000x Silver, 1x Full Energy, 15x XP Brews
• epyre – 10x Brews, 1x Energy Refill, 100,000x Silver
• AMG25 – 1x Epic Skill Tome, 150x Multi-battles, 100x Energy, 200,000x Silver
• winmidgamewinter – 100x Multi-battles, 30x Brews, 200,000x Silver, 100x Energy
• PP500 – 50x Multi-battles, 400,000x Silver, 200x Energy, 500x Plarium Points (Plarium Play only)
• GAMELEAP – 1x Epic Tome, 100,000x Silver, 1x Energy Refill

There are plenty of Raid codes available, but you are limited to only being able to redeem one promo per day, so think carefully about what you claim first based on your current needs.

For new players, only one of the following Raid codes can be redeemed within a day or two of creating a fresh account:

• MYTURN – Alure, 20x Magic XP Brews, 200,000x Silver
• GODSPEED – Apothecary, 5x Magic XP Brews, 5x Greater Arcane Potions, 100,000x Silver
• WELCOMEGIFT – Bellower, 11x Void Brews, 100,000x Silver, 3x Rare Books
• KITTYCUT – Cheshire Cat
• DASPIEL2024LIEBE – Chonoru, 300,000x Silver, 1x Three-star Chicken
• BECURSED – Cormac the Highpeak, 15x Magic XP Brews, 1x 3 Days XP Boost, 3x Energy Refills
• 2GTLUCKY2026 – Deliana, Multi-battles, Silver, Energy, Force Brews, Potions, Epic Skill Tome, 1x 3 Days XP Boost, Legendary Regeneration Gear Pieces
• XOXO25 – Fenax, Tallia
• BOUNTY – Fenshi, 10x Force Brews, 10x Greater Force Potions, 200,000x Silver
• GETFENSHI25 – Fenshi, 200,000x Silver, 10x XP Brews, 40x Potions
• PESTCONTROL – Hoskarul, 10x Spirit Brews, 200,000x Silver, 10x Greater Spirit Potions
• LILHELPER – Jinglehunter, 10x Spirit Brews, 200,000x Silver, 10x Greater Spirit Potions
• 2GT24Knight – Knight Errant, 100,000x Silver
• RAIDWITHKYTIS – Kytis, 5x Energy Refill, 5x Spirit Brews, 200,000x Silver
• GETLOKI – Loki The Deceiver, 300,000x Silver, 15x Spirit Brews, 15x Greater Spirit Potions
• LURIA – Luria, 5x Spirit Brews, 5x Greater Arcane Potions, 100,000x Silver
• 2QLRAID – Luthiea, 150,000x Silver, 1x Energy Refill, 15x XP Brews, 20x Multi-battles
• MAGEOUT – Mausoleum Mage, 5x Energy Refills, 300,000x Silver, 1x 3 Days XP Boost, 30x Force Brews
• CHUG – Melga Steelgirdle, 10x Spirit Brews, 300,000x Silver
• FIREBURN – Mordecai, 50x Multi-battles, 10x Force XP Brews, 200,000x Silver
• MYCELIUM – Myciliac Priest Orn, 10x Spirit Brews, 200,000x Silver, 10x Greater Spirit Potions
• GETOBORO – Oboro, 10x Void XP Brews, 5x Greater Arcane Potions, 300,000x Silver
• RAID7 – Pelops the Victor
• GOFAST – Razelvarg, 15x XP Brews, 15x Greater Magic Potions, 300,000x Silver
• REVIVER – Rector Drath, 10x Force Brews, 300,000x Silver
• MIDGAMETOP – Sigmund the Highshield, 100x Energy, 5x Magic Brews, 700,000x Silver, 50x Multi-battles, 5x Greater Arcane Potions, 1x 3 Days XP Boost, 1 Silver Chest
• HUNTMASTER – Stag Knight, 15x Spirit Brews, 150,000x Silver, 15x Greater Arcane Potions
• STAGSLAYER – Stag Knight, 1x Epic Skill Tome, 45x XP Brews, 150,000x Silver
• MONKEYKING – Sun Wukong, 300,000x Silver, 15x Spirit XP Brews, 15x Greater Spirit Potions
• SUPREME6 – Supreme Galek, 25x Void Brews, 5x Great Void Potion, 300,000x Silver
• DEMONSLAYER – Tholin Foulbe, 15x Greater Spirit Potions, 300,000x Silver
• STONECOLD – Thylessia, 25x Force Brews, 3x Rank 3 Chickens, 3x Epic Skill Tomes, 300,000x Silver
• FREEFROG – Toragi The Frog, 20x XP Brews, 200,000x Silver
• UDKING – Ultimate Deathknight
• SUBSCRIBEMIDGAMECHANNEL – Urticata, 10x Spirit Brews, 100,000x Silver
• 2GTSpringTricks – 1x Four-star Chicken, 50x Energy, 200,000x Silver
• RAIDCURIOUSER – 50x Multi-battles, 20x XP Brews, 1x Energy Refill, 200,000x Silver
• SpringTricks2GT – 1x Four-star Chicken, 200,000x Silver, 50x Energy
• TRICKORTREAT – 250x Energy, 25x Void Brews, 1x Five-star Chicken, 150x Multi-battles
• TRIVIADUNGEON – 30x Multi-battles, 15x XP Brews, 300,000x Silver

Many of these starter promos unlock a Champion alongside other useful resources, and if you're struggling to decide which one to pick then a lot of players recommend MONKEYKING to get Sun Wukong as a useful fighter.

How to redeem Raid promo codes

To redeem Raid Shadow Legends codes on PC (via Plarium Play only) and Android, all you need to do is tap the three bar icon on the left side of the Bastion screen to open the menu. From there, select the Promo Codes option and then enter a code before hitting Confirm to claim your reward.

However, you can't redeem Raid codes directly through the game on other PC formats or iPhone, so instead you need to visit the official Plarium promo codes website to claim them there. Log in to your linked Plarium account, then use the Enter Promo Code text box to type in a code before hitting Redeem to send your rewards to the game.

Remember, you can only redeem one Raid Shadow Legends promo code per day, regardless of the entry method you use, so make it count!

Expired Raid codes

• 1MGIFT – 300,000x Silver, 1x Energy Refill, 2x Rare Skill Tome, 3x Rank 3 Chickens
• 2GTNEWBIE – Kellan the Shrike, 2x Energy Refill, 200,000x Silver
• Click4Gameplay – Mordecai, 1x Multi-battle, 10x Force XP Brews, 200,000x Silver
• FROSTBRINGER – FrostBringer, 15x Magic XP Brews, 300,000x Silver
• only4midgamesubs – 1x Four-star Chicken, 10x XP Brew, 200,000x Silver
• POWERSTARTER – Tallia, Energy, Multi-battles, Silver
• RAID450K – 15x XP Brews, 1x Epic Skill Tome, Energy Refill, 450,000x Silver
• RAID7YEARS – 1x Void Shard, 300x Energy, 300,000x Silver, 20x XP Brews
• SUPERPOWERS – Deacon Armstrong, 1x Epic Book, 200,000x Silver, 24x Magic XP Brews
• wefinallyplayedit – 10x XP Brews, 1x Energy Refill, 100,000x Silver
• Yearlygift – 150x Multi-battles, 1x Four-star Chicken, 10x XP Brews, 500,000x Silver, 100x Energy

There have been plenty of expired Raid codes over the years, and some of the more recent ones are listed here for reference only. Promos tend to come and go, so make sure you keep on top of the current codes to no miss out on any rewards.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Changes are coming in The Witcher 3 remaster and Songs of the Past, and your trusty steed, Roach, is among the areas where you might notice some alterations. The mighty horse definitely has a distinct personality in the original game, and aspects of that have been upgraded for this update and the Songs of the Past DLC - but you can turn that all off if you prefer.

In an interview with Fall Damage, Karolina Kuzia, the design director at Fool's Theory, the studio that helped make Songs of the Past, addressed whether Roach's bugs had been fixed. "When it comes to Roach and her shenanigans, why take something that is light?" she asks.

She then passes the question to her colleague, Miles Tost, the level design lead at CD Projekt Red, who elaborates. "I don't know of any Roach bugs, I think she's perfect," he says. "Having said that, one cool thing about the remaster update is that we have updates to Roach's movement behavior, so on that count, that may be disappointing to you."

Yes, that is a little disconcerting, because Roach is truly a singular equestrian companion, even if she has a tendency to get in doorways you need to get through and other impossible places. She's a mess, but she's our mess, and we've grown to love and accept her in all her multitudes.

CD Projekt Red anticipated this by adding a toggle for the older and newer behavioral patterns. "You can turn that off," Tost adds. "If you prefer legacy Roach, the way you have grown to know her, be my guest."

Be your guest I shall be, Mr. Tost. I do enjoy keeping some aspects like these in remasters, because they become indelible to my nostalgia. Roach reminds you you're in a big, goofy fantasy game, and in a world like Geralt's you need that sometimes.

After 20 years voicing Geralt, The Witcher 3 star Doug Cockle says revisiting his character for Songs of the Past is "like slipping into a warm bath"

Various new games – and I mean various – have reportedly suffered countless spoilers thanks to a Steam leak that's seen their achievements go entirely public.

From Kingdom Hearts 4 to Persona 6 to Silent Hill: Townfall to… well, you name it, there's a downright plethora of titles seemingly affected by the massive leak on Valve's platform.

You can find lists of every game (and their achievements, be warned) on online forums and websites like Twitter – and it's all so big it's nearly mind-blowing. They're all live on achievement tracker site Exophase, too, but I'd once again caution checking anything out in too much detail.

Not only does the leak apparently expose a load of upcoming games' achievements, but it also lifts the veil on many "unannounced" titles, as users point out in a social media thread on the whole debacle.

There's an "unannounced Dune game" in there, an "unannounced Twin Peaks game," and even a dang "unannounced Shrek 2 Remaster" mentioned, y'all… and, erm… Penis Bird? Put simply, it's one heck of a leak – and not just of games we knew about.

So, how did this all happen in the first place? Well, it seems to boil down to an API error that isn't exactly new to Steam. For anyone who might not know what that means (because I certainly didn't), API stands for application programming interface, and it's essentially a set of rules that allows software programs to communicate.

Exophase owner "x3sphere" has described it a bit over on ResetEra, confirming what happened.

"I am the owner of the site and this is what appears to have happened," he writes. "Seems like a possible screw up on Valve's end, a bunch of games with achievements that should be private are accessible through the API right now and that's why they got scanned into the site. I usually never see games without an actual name pop up with achievements, yet over the past hour or so a bunch have."

Oof.

Valve has yet to respond itself, but I'm not sure it will aside from remedying the apparent private information from each game. As for studios like Sega and Square Enix which have seemingly seen their unreleased games go a bit more public, I doubt we'll hear anything, either.

So, there you have it – you can go explore the findings yourself if you're interested it, but after taking a peek at the alleged Persona 6 achievements myself, I can say I sort of wish I hadn't.

Spoilers, spoilers everywhere… and I shan't be sharing them here.

Kingdom Hearts 4 script "almost twice as big" as KH3's, Tetsuya Nomura says: "There were more parts that I wanted to include, but I was already pushing it."

The Blood of Dawnwalker released last week to sky-high expectations, and largely delivered. The open-world dark fantasy RPG, directed by Konrad Tomaszkiewicz of The Witcher 3 fame, launched to "mostly positive" Steam reviews and, despite a few outliers including our own 3/5 star review, largely glowing impressions from critics as well. Crucially, it seems CD Projekt Red fans are turning out in droves for Rebel Wolves' debut title, with one analyst reporting that a majority of The Blood of Dawnwalker's Steam player base previously played The Witcher 3, an unexpectedly huge crossover.

As reported by Alinea Analytics' Rhys Elliott, the "premium" game whose player base most crosses over with The Blood of Dawnwalker's is the Witcher 3. That's not a surprise considering Tomaszkiewicz's involvement, but what is surprising to me is just how many Witcher 3 players are turning out for Rebel Wolves so quickly after launch. According to Elliott, 58% of Blood of Dawnwalker players on Steam are The Witcher 3 players, proving CDPR fans stay loyal to individual developers even when those developers have moved on from CDPR itself.

Personally, I'm among the class of RPG enjoyers who've tried countless times in earnest to get into The Witcher 3 but couldn't for some unknown reason. Meanwhile, I'm only a few hours into The Blood of Dawnwalker and so far it's everything I was hoping for and more. Its world, lore, and characters are as richly developed as I was expecting from a team of CDPR vets, but the thing I'm surprised by the most is the time-as-a-resource mechanic and how essential it feels to the whole experience. I always liked the idea on paper but felt hesitant about being bound by it in the main mission, but it never feels cumbersome and adds a sense of urgency that makes the world feel more alive and reactive.

Even in the short time I've played both games, it's easy to see The Witcher 3's influence everywhere in The Blood of Dawnwalker, from its grimdark setting and branching narrative to its fast, fluid swordplay and deep RPG systems. Dawnwalker isn't seeing the universal acclaim of The Witcher 3, but there's a chance its standing among RPG fandom improves as players have more time to dig into its world, not to mention the "saga" of sequels Rebel Wolves is planning.

If you're just starting out, here are the best Prologue quests to do before Mass in The Blood of Dawnwalker.

More than a year after Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 helped make French game studio Sandfall Interactive an international superstar, France's president Emmanuel Macron has announced a new international gaming festival.

The festival does not yet have an official date, scope, or location, but Macron nonetheless revealed his plan for France during September 7's Lumiere Summit, which intends to unite purveyors of "the moving-image," per its website.

"Because video games are part of our culture, we are creating an international video game festival," Macron writes in a Twitter post accompanying a clip of his Lumiere Summit speech, translated by GamesRadar+. He also shares his desire to bring video games into the larger world of exceptional French art.

So, Macron's goal for his video game festival would be to publicize and popularize French video game development. He references "huge, global successes in French video games" that France needs to spend a lot more time paying attention to.

It almost sounds like Macron wants to create another version of Gamescom, the Germany-based conference that brings international industry leaders together in Europe. France already has a smaller-scale version of this in its Paris Games Week, but Macron is yet to say how the two differ.

Anyway, Sandfall Interactive has managed to place the limelight on the French development scene, and now its home country is keeping the momentum. At this point, Clair Obscur is a landmark game after sweeping awards ceremonies and becoming a genuine industry darling. But France's future of gaming could be even more exciting.

In December 2025, Macron congratulated the makers of Expedition 33 for the second time, calling the RPG a historic French title.

This proposed international festival could be an opportunity for French developers to proceed with more Clair Obscur-type ambition. For all we know, the next Clair Obscur could already be out there – it only needs a place to reach you.

Pokemon with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's combat sounds like a bonkers idea, but one fan's now given us a taste test.

The decision to delay The Elder Scrolls 6 to make room for Starfield and, somewhat distantly, Fallout 76 came as a surprise to many at Bethesda, according to former Skyrim co-lead Kurt Kuhlmann.

Chatting with FRVR, Kuhlmann recalls the comfortable rhythm that Bethesda had established in its production: Fallout, then Elder Scrolls, then back to Fallout. Switching series and genres like this gave the team a welcome change of pace, Kulhmann says, so after the release of Fallout 4, "we all expected" The Elder Scrolls 6 would be next.

Instead, Fallout 76, which was not "supposed to involve our whole studio," became a much bigger project that extended the latest Fallout phase of the cycle. But more impactfully, Starfield happened.

"What we were supposed to be working on next – it wasn't ever that we were about to suddenly work on TES 6, even though that's what I think most people wanted," Kulhmanns says. "And then Todd [Howard] was like: 'No, we're doing Starfield. I got that approved. It's going to be a new IP. It's going to be this ambitious [game]. It's going to be the greatest space RPG ever made.'"

Kuhlmann reckons Fallout 4's success gave Howard the leeway to successfully pitch an offbeat game like Starfield to the higher ups at Bethesda and Zenimax (just don't ask how Fallout 76, another experiment, launched). "I would've much rather have been making TES 6 instead of 76 and Starfield, personally," he reiterates, "and I think that would probably be true for the majority of the studio."

But Starfield did indeed happen, and it took many years to come together. In 2023, Howard said "I thought we would find the answers faster" after it took seven years just for Starfield to reach a state that it could be called fun to play.

"It wasn't like Starfield was this big internal like, 'Hey, we all want to make this space game, Todd,'" Kuhlmann says. "It was very much, 'Guess what, team? We're making this space game.'"

Today, eight years since its announcement, The Elder Scrolls 6 still doesn't have a release date or window. New Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is reportedly pushing Bethesda for faster releases, and said just last month that a "live playthrough" of The Elder Scrolls 6 showed "incredible" scale.

As part of its big Fallout 5 and The Elder Scrolls 6 information drop, Bethesda said Starfield has reached 17 million players. Those players can also look forward to Year 3 of post-launch support, with Bethesda eying more Starborn content, gameplay improvements, and additional story quests.

The Elder Scrolls 6: Sentinel could be the title of Bethesda's next RPG according to a solid fan theory that dates back to a Starfield teaser.

Jujutsu Zero codes award you with a variety of items to help you level up your fighting style - and you'll need to fight hard as you embark on any of the dangerous quests this fighting RPG has to offer.

This Roblox experience is also a gacha game, in a way, and you'll need to roll for attacks in special, limited-time banners. For this, you'll need Crystals, while Lumens unlock rewards in the standard banner. Both are commonly available by redeeming Jujutsu Zero codes, so take a look at the list below.

For more general rewards you can use across all experiences, check out our up-to-date list of all the Roblox promo codes you can redeem now.

All Jujutsu Zero codes

These are the Jujutsu Zero codes you can redeem right now:

• 210KLIKES - 3,500x Lumens, 300x Crystals, 35x Clan Rolls
• INFINITEVOID - 1,000x Crystals, 5,000x Lumens, 50x Clan Rolls
• 200KLIKES - 500x Cursed Crystals, 3,500x Lumens, 50x Clan Rolls

As you can see, there are loads of Lumens and Crystals up for grabs with these Jujutsu Zero codes, letting you save up to roll multiple times in both the standard and Disaster banners.

How to redeem Jujutsu Zero codes

You must redeem Jujutsu Zero codes from the main menu, which is available when you launch the game. If you want to return to the main menu from the experience, hit the Menu button in the top left-hand corner, then select Return Menu, the bottom left option. This takes you back to the main menu, where you can select the Codes button, enter your code into the box, and hit Redeem to claim your rewards.

Jujutsu Zero codes aren't case-sensitive, so you don't have to worry about that, but you still need to make sure you spell the codes correctly, so I'd still recommend copying and pasting from the list above.

Expired Jujutsu Zero codes

• CODE_LIMITED_EVENT!! - 500x Cursed Crystals, 6x Shadow Essence
• TradingUP - 3,000x Lumens, 500x Cursed Crystals
• AURA - 4,000x Lumens, 35x Clan Rolls

There are already a few expired Jujutsu Zero codes, and I have no doubt that those that are currently valid will expire soon, so be sure to redeem them before I have to move them down here.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

The Veil codes can help you to expand your character options as you attempt to endure the mysterious and foreboding labyrinth that stretches ahead of you. Hordes of monsters stand in your way, along with any other players that choose chaos and take a PvP approach to their adventures instead of working together.

The promos you can claim provide free Race Rerolls, which are used to roll the RNG dice in the character creator to give you different base stats to build on, as well as cosmetic items to wear in this roleplaying Roblox experience. If you're ready to brave the labyrinth, then these are the codes for The Veil and how to redeem them.

If you'd prefer some more general promos that can be applied to all of your experiences, we've got the most recent Roblox promo codes covered.

All The Veil codes

The following The Veil codes can now be claimed:

• SORRY4SHUTDOWN – 3x Race Rerolls new!
• VERITYBOMB – 3x Race Rerolls
• RELEASE – 6x Race Rerolls, Party Hat

As you can see from the first couple of codes for The Veil, Race Rerolls are the main reward you'll receive, though this offering may expand as the experience develops. The launch promo also gets you a Party Hat to wear to celebrate the game's release as you explore the labyrinth.

How to redeem The Veil codes

To redeem The Veil codes, you first need to join the BlackstarDW Studios community group, which you should do from the Roblox menu before you jump in as I couldn't see a way to join from within the experience. Complete the initial tutorial to learn the controls, then hit the three vertical dots icon at the top of the screen before scrolling down to select the glowing Shop option.

Within the Shop menu, either scroll to the bottom or hit the Codes option on the left to jump straight to it, then use the Redeem codes here! text box to enter a promo and redeem it. Codes for The Veil are case-sensitive so type them carefully, and there is no obvious visual indication that a promo has been successfully redeemed – though you'll see any physical items awarded appear in your inventory at the bottom of the screen.

Expired The Veil codes

• No expired codes

At the moment there are no expired The Veil codes, as they haven't been part of this experience for long. It's unlikely the launch promos will stick around, so make sure you claim the active promos as soon as possible.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

I know that the devs behind The Expanse: Osiris Reborn have what it takes to create a great RPG. I know that you don't just get given the license to a hot multimedia franchise without earning it. I've heard that Rogue Trader and the Pathfinder games have got the sauce, and I've heard Owlcat's name in connection with Baldur's Gate enough times to make me sit up and take notice. But after an hour with Osiris Reborn, I'm yet to see that come shining through.

It's an unfortunate consequence of the way an event like Gamescom shakes out that The Expanse: Osiris Reborn was not the first multimedia, cover-shooter, sci-fi RPG I saw last week. It's an even more unfortunate consequence for Owlcat that I happened to see Exodus first. But it's not in the direct comparison that The Expanse falls down – it's in how the time I got to spend with it played out.

TV RPG

As I mentioned in my Exodus preview, you can rarely get a feel for the strength of a game's role-playing in the course of an hour-long demo. But you can be given a sense for how and why your character has ended up in their present surroundings, or who they and their companions are as people and how they fit into this world. You can also get a sense of how the decisions that have already been made about your character might alter how other players' decisions would alter their experiences. What I played of Osiris Reborn didn't seem to highlight that, preferring instead to focus on combat and ties to the TV show.

The mission in my demo is relatively simple. I arrived at an outpost's well-guarded storage facility in search of data contained within a case. Discretion is of the utmost importance, and my companion (my own twin, J) and I are kitted out in plausible, if unlikely, Osirian space suits. Despite our attempts to stay unnoticed, one of our first encounters with base personnel is being found in the wrong place by a pair of guards. I prepare myself for some kind of disagreement, hoping I've got a silver-enough tongue or at least a fast-enough shot to stay out of trouble. But, as it happens, it's one of the guards who talks his more trigger-happy colleague into leaving us alone, and I'm left to explore the base unimpeded.

It's just one example of how I'm never really challenged as I wander around the space. Despite the station's security systems getting increasingly wise to our presence, no-one on the ground ever asks us to explain ourselves. I'm able to peek through public computer terminals and wander into server rooms without ever being confronted, despite J noting how outdated our disguises look. It's not until we meet one particularly ornery quartermaster that anyone prevents us from doing exactly what we please, and in this entire sequence I'm only offered a couple of ability checks.

Eventually, I've secured the information I need and plot a quick getaway. That's undone very quickly, however, as I learn that I'm not what the security system has been reacting to. A squad of soldiers rappels down through a huge hole they've blown in the roof of the station, inadvertently upsetting the biohazard container strapped to the ceiling. That's home to a scary, crystalline figure that should be very familiar to series fans, but it's also an excuse to beat an even speedier retreat.

As chaos unfolds around the hybrid and I'm forced to fight my way out, I start to get more of a sense of what Osiris Reborn is trying to do. My pre-assigned character build is focused on remote allies – a drone and a turret that can be deployed to get angles on foes upon whom you don't have an accurate line of fire – a very specific build that doesn't limit my ability to enjoy some solid gunplay. It's a perfect fit for the solid cover shooting that makes up much of my demo's second half. During one section where I've got limited cover and enemies are coming from above me, and another where a beefy enemy is able to throw firebombs to flush me out of hiding places, I have to actually think about how to use my skills to survive.

It's a faster-paced sequence than my infiltration, a frantic escape attempt that's half fighting past security and half fleeing from the monster on our tail. Eventually realizing that the hybrid will slaughter the base's civilian population, however, we're forced to stand and fight, concocting a plan that will use a solar array against it.

The downside to that is it requires drawing our pursuer to the base's agricultural center, where we come across a bunch of farmers who are at risk. Tasked with deciding whether to send one companion to shepherd the civilians to safety or keep them with me to even the odds, I elect to fight in a pair and let the farmers fend for themselves. Whether that's the wrong choice or not, I don't get to find out – admittedly, a couple of civilians get pulped, but that's only because they ran the wrong way, and I wasn't about to lose a companion just before a boss fight.

Sadly, the demo ends before the fight begins, so I didn't get to see the consequences of my actions, just the ruined body of some unfortunate spacer and a very angry hybrid advancing towards us. I've seen enough to suggest that Osiris Reborn is a decent Expanse game and a solid cover shooter, but I come away without any sense of what kind of RPG it is. I'm confident enough in Owlcat's previous games that I'm sure it'll deliver on that aspect too, but I wish I'd had a little more opportunity to shape my version of this world.

Want to expand what you play? Our best sci-fi RPGs ranking and games like Mass Effect recommendations shouldn't steer

Port Desire, the cyber-noir setting of upcoming RPG No Law, offers endless possibilities. During the day, pops of green foliage, bustling crowds and urban wildlife scuttling away makes the city feel truly alive. At night, the crowds thin, leaving shady characters lingering in their place. Neon washes out all other colors, turning greenery to grit.

The longer I spend with No Law in a hands-off preview, the more it opens up. The melting pot of Southeast Asian and Mediterranean influences in Port Desire entices you to give everything a second look. Even the main character, Grey Harker, shows that same level of consideration. With the setting packed to the gills with such detail, a gruff and thorough detective offers the perfect lens to see it all through.

You don’t have to inspect the world with Harker's diligence, though. "You can't play No Law wrong," creative director Arcade Berg tells me.

First port of call

If you want to stop and smell every rose you can, but if you want to breeze past everything, No Law won’t stop you. Your progression, for example, isn't tied to your playstyle. You don’t get more EXP by playing more combat-heavy rather than stealthy. Developer Neon Giant has set out to not lead the player in how to interact with their world, instead making one worth exploring. You can’t drive vehicles, so everything must be within walking distance, but the added verticality of the buildings really stacks it all on. As we descend a stairwell, I’m told each and every door you pass is accessible, so you could really spend a good chunk of time exploring just one building.

After an initial introduction to Port Desire, the demo continues with multiple approaches of the same objective: infiltrating an apartment complex to find a missing informant.

Walking into a convenience store to resupply, each item is fully modeled on the shelves, allowing you to peruse their stock rather than skim menus, before either paying the attendant or shoplifting. As we leave, Berg points to a sensor by the entrance that activates the welcome chime. I can see it’s interactable and you can swipe it if you so choose, and I’m left curious as to why such a seemingly innocuous item was not only included in the game, but also why it was brought to my attention. I’m assured all will become clear later.

For our first run at the apartment block, we’re going sneaky. With creative director Tor Frick at the helm, we climb up to an awning and sneak our way past the guards outside. On our way we glance into a window and see a room with an open door and a guard asleep on the bed – complete with Z's rising from their head.

Once inside, we’re confronted by the complex’s manager, a sleazeball straight out of a '50s gangster movie. Through some smooth talking and a light investigative puzzle he lets us go upstairs, but not into the rooms themselves. Cue sneaking into the open door we spotted earlier, past the sleeping guard, and into the target room via grotty air ducts; cockroaches scuttling away and spider webs breaking as I go by.

The second run is much more confrontational. In the initial resupply and the convenience store, Frick blows the clerk’s head off and lines his pockets with as much loot as he can carry. Before leaving to avoid the authorities, he swipes the entrance’s chime sensor – explaining that it can be combined with a grenade to create a proximity mine. An ingenious approach to crafting that was also shown in the trailer – where a grenade was attached to a Roomba to make a remote control bomb – I'm eager to find which other Item combinations are available.

As we continue onto the apartment complex, Frick climbs up to the vantage point we snuck in through. He unleashes hell upon the guards in the courtyard, using an SMG and explosives to leave gristle in their stead. Frick also dispatches the sleazeball blocking our way, and after navigating around some locked doors, retrieves their masterkey, by-passing the puzzle to gain access to the apartment upstairs.

This time, Frick tasers the sleeping enemies – another layer of player choice should you wish to really unleash hell. But I’m warned that the more you lean into violence, the more the citizens of Port Desire come to fear you, an example of how No Law adapts to how you play it.

Overall I’m really impressed by Neon Giants' endeavor to deliver a truly immersive RPG. You can play how you want, explore as much or as little as you want and craft the version of Harker you want. Although for the latter I’m told the only incorrect way to play is removing Harker’s moustache.

From what I’ve seen, that appears to be one of the very few limitations No Law presents. Neon Giant has striven to create a dense, compact playground for a player to explore and immerse themselves in exactly how they wish, and I’m incredibly excited to explore Port Desire myself.

No Law is set to launch in 2027, but if you can't wait here are some excellent games like Cyberpunk 2077 we can't stop playing

The Fable reboot's whimsical fantasy world is full of 1,000 NPCs who are each handmade by the developers at Playground Games, but that's not always how the new feature was handled. Originally, the devs randomized everything about the Living Population and, as you can imagine, that made much less sense.

Speaking to GamesRadar+ about the series' incoming comeback, game director Ralph Fulton delved a bit deeper into Fable's Living Population - the villagers and business owners and bums and criminals and soon-to-be partners who make up the game's world, and who can have wildly different personalities and needs.

"We individually picked everything about every NPC to make it into an NPC that you could read, that made sense top to bottom," Fulton explains. We've seen how that plays out, too. Some NPCs might be attracted to your fat pockets if you get rich enough, while others might turn their nose up and call you a snob.

"We originally had a tool that would randomize it, and just 'roll' an NPC, and that would have been a massive labour-saving device," Fulton goes on, explaining that the studio would have saved itself "so much time" if the devs had chosen to shuffle the 1,000 NPCs. "What we found was, they just didn't make as much sense."

Randomizing the Living Population would often lead to inconsistencies in how an NPC looked and acted. Imagine a vegan butcher or a hairdresser with an unflattering hairdo. Instead, the handmade approach let Playground Games build up communities that run on some amount real-world logic, plus a little fairytale charm. It should make marriage, divorce, and situationships all the more interesting.

Fable is "15-20 hours" long, Xbox confirms, but you can "literally play it forever" if you treat it more like a life sim than an RPG

Fable has a while to go before its release on February 23, 2027, but we're already salivating at the prospect of buying up every property in Albion and milking the fantasy land for all the gold it's worth.

After chatting with its game director Ralph Fulton, we now know exactly how we're going to do it. He shared key tips on manipulating the game's simulated economy and maximizing profits.

Treasure horde

"While there will be a way to optimize every business, one of the best ways to optimize a business is to identify whether an employee is actually working hard enough to increase the amount the business earns, and if not, fire them and just keep trying new employees to find one whose trait fits the business. [That's an] inside tip for you."

In Fable, not only can you play the role of a gallivanting adventurer, but if you fancy it, a ruthless business magnate. With tailors, bookshops, barbers, pubs, tattoo parlors, and bakeries all available to invest in, there's plenty of capitalistic possibility to sink your teeth into.

"Now," says Fulton, using a bakery as an example, "I can raise their wages, which in turn makes them happier, which would make them like me more and may make them a better employee, which then increases the overall yield of the bakery. But it might not. It might just lose me money. I could put their wages down. That's undoubtedly going to make them dislike me, think I'm greedy, and it may decrease their performance. But it might not. See what I mean? So you're kind of playing with a set of levers."

Specific NPC traits can help or hinder your enterprise. But which traits should you look out for? The most important one is 'hard-working'. Any NPC with this trait will apparently boost profits by 20% right off the bat. For Fulton, however, there's one industry in particular you'll want to invest in if you're after a shortcut to the millionaire's club: farming. That's because farms are among the most lucrative ventures, capable of supporting six workers.

"Now, if you can go and get six hard-working NPCs, put them to work on a farm, that all stacks. So suddenly you can be making a ton of money from that. I didn't know that until someone in our level design team pointed that out to me. But that is actually the smart play if you're going the property route."

So, by stacking buffs triggered by traits (the 'helpful' trait is another effective one), you can get the most out of Fable's layered financial systems. Buy up a farm, introduce your own hired help, and make bank. But it's the kind of help you bring in that determines how much money it makes.

Here's where Playground Games' incredible attention to detail comes in. It refuses to use a randomizer tool for NPCs, instead applying every single one of these thousands of traits one by one.

Doing this in a settlement like Bowerstone is monumental work. This is a location containing 400 NPCs alone, each with their own routines, personalities, likes, and dislikes. Doing this across the whole of Albion is downright Herculean.

"We individually picked everything about every NPC to make it into an NPC that you could read, that made sense top to bottom. We originally had a tool that would randomize it, and just 'roll' an NPC, and that would have been a massive labor-saving device. That would have saved us so much time, but what we found was, they just didn't make as much sense."

Business fantasy

Randomized NPCs resulted in unconvincing mismatches between trait, job, and look – like a hairdresser with a bland bob, a pacifist weaponsmith, or a vegan butcher.

As with everything in Fable, building the best business is a delicate balancing act. Pay your employees too little and you'll make more profit, sure, but they'll come to resent you, spreading word around town of your miserly ways.

This results in drastic changes to your reputation. You may become known as selfish, cruel, or any number of different pejoratives applied to your character in response to your actions. Adjectives are expressed as a word cloud floating next to your character's head, and what's really interesting is when you get contrasting ones.

For example, if your penny pinching avatar also has a way with words, there's nothing stopping them being known as charming and Scrooge-like at the same time.

"You could," says Fulton when asked if it's possible to have a reputation as a friendly murderer, "if you were being kind and generous on one hand but also killing people."

"You can see that's contradictory. But actually it's a more accurate representation of the things you're doing, and what people know about you, rather than moving incrementally up-and-down a single scale."

For some, the endgame for all this gold might be a glitzy mansion. If you're in the market for one, you'll want to hit up a place on the outskirts of Bowerstone called Manor Fields. Here you'll find impressive stately homes, some with their own hedge mazes.

For others, the goal will be more modest: a simple house and a family. In Fable, that family is more detailed than ever. Your wife and child have their own routines, as with every single NPC you encounter. They won't just wait around for you all day to return home after a full day of adventuring, but run errands around town as they live their own lives.

Fulton describes the challenges in implementing this system. He details a playtester whose in-game wife would teleport around at odd hours randomly giving out birthday presents.

These glitches are, thankfully, fixed. Your spouse won't get up in the middle of the night to wish you many happy returns, instead waiting until morning. But it's just one of innumerable game-breaking bugs that could potentially befall a game of Fable's magnitude, one in which your actions reverberate across the land morally, ethically, and economically.

"You can certainly transform the economic future of people," says Fulton. "By using the levers at your disposal as a landlord, as a business owner, you can change the lives of people."

Our best RPGs and best story-driven RPGs lists are no fable, but great places to get more recommendations on what to play next!

• The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered is perfect if you want to jump straight into an absorbing fantasy RPG and let adventure find you along the way.

Oblivion Remastered's "miracle" Switch 2 port makes exploring Cyrodiil a dream on handheld, but Virtuos' makeover is just as absorbing on console and PC.

Oblivion is one of my all-time favorite RPGs, with its lively NPC schedules and unpredictable quests making every session feel like a roll of the dice. Will you join a guild? Get kidnapped and taken out to sea? Chased across the map by an evil unicorn? Let's find out!

Why play it today?

• Oblivion makes a strong case for being Bethesda Game Studios' greatest RPG, striking a sublime balance between old-school RPG friction and modern expectations.

The original title still holds up, but Oblivion Remastered's visual overhaul and quality-of-life additions make it an easier entrypoint for new fans.

Chief among those improvements include the ability to sprint and a simpler system for levelling up, along with more kinetic combat. And with Oblivion Remastered landing on Switch 2 last month, it finally has a solid handheld version beyond its rickety Steam Deck build. Crucially, though, Oblivion's core RPG experience is still timeless – traveling between cities as a Dark Brotherhood assassin is still as fun as it was in 2006, and Skyrim's magic system never quite matched the thrill of making your own spells in Cyrodiil's Mages Guild. Forget this week – this is a game I'd recommend year-round.

Time commitment:

You get as much as you put into Oblivion Remastered. The main quest can be wrapped up within 10 hours if you're feeling speedy, but wandering off the beaten path will extend that significantly - my first playthrough is on 60 hours and counting.

Play The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered if you love...

Skip Oblivion Remastered if you want:

One thing to know:

Oblivion Remastered still has performance issues on PC, so be sure to check your desktop meets its recommended specs if that's where you're keen to play. Otherwise, my only other advice is to do the main quest sooner rather than later – it gets very hard at later levels.

A moment you'll remember:

The Dark Brotherhood quest 'Whodunit?' is flat-out one of the best quests Bethesda has ever made. You're tasked with murdering partygoers inside a locked mansion, with a big bonus if you can do it without ever being suspected. Mingle, explore! Would you kindly come down to the basement with me?

The final verdict:

At launch, I called Oblivion Remastered "the perfect reimagining of my favorite RPG".

That still stands. If you haven't already played Oblivion, one of the most colorful and personable RPG worlds ever made awaits. And if you're returning to Cyrodiil, welcome home – no matter how much you've played Oblivion, there's always another surprise waiting.

So, where can you play it?

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered is available to play on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2

How to get started with Oblivion Remastered:

Cyrodiil can be overwhelming. If you would like to inject some purpose into your adventure, here are four handy guides to help get you started.

Not your cup of tea? Check out our best RPGs round-up to find the right fit for your weekend

Original Mass Effect cinematic designer Armando Troisi isn't worried about BioWare developers' ability to handle a sequel as precious as Mass Effect 5. The company's executives, however…

"It's one of those things where, if people get out of the way and let game creators just do their thing, you never know the magic that they can create," Troisi tells FRVR about the next Mass Effect game in a new interview.

"I think, obviously, there's a lot of different things that come to play in making a game of that scale," Troisi continues. "But trust your people and try to change the world with everything that you try to do. And I think that they can do it. I'm rooting for them."

Mass Effect 5 was first announced at the 2020 Game Awards. Despite the years passing slowly with few updates, Troisi remains confident in the project because the original game's devs, such as lead designer Preston Watamaniuk and art director Derek Watts, continue to work at BioWare.

"They're the OGs, you know? I don't think there's anything that I could tell them that they don't know what to do," says Troisi. But while the heart of BioWare is maintained by its accomplished developers, the body of the company has changed over the past 20 years.

Executives overseeing both BioWare itself and owner EA have an increasingly rusty reputation after mangling Dragon Age: The Veilguard's 2025 release, shutting down looter shooter Anthem in 2026 after seven years, and, uh, accepting Saudi Arabia and private equity investor Jared Kushner as their overlords in a new $55 billion buyout. Yeah. On that last note, some EA devs now worry that "projects just won't get signed because they don't align explicitly with what the Saudi government wants or implicitly because [EA will think] 'oh, we're going to try and cater these things [to our owners] because if we pitch something else the government may not like or approve of it.'"

Ex-EA senior manager Emmanuel Rosier shares these concerns, saying in August that BioWare was "struggling as a studio, as a brand have been struggling in recent years, and I don't know if they [EA] will keep funding that one."

Mass Effect 5 is, in theory, in ongoing production and a lucrative opportunity for BioWare, but Rosier says, "I will believe it when I see it, the next Mass Effect game, let's put it that way." Even former BioWare executive Mark Darrah is preparing his doomsday bunker, anticipating a future where, "if [EA's new owners are] coming in, and they're very involved, they're going to do a lot of damage."

So, sure, BioWare developers have no problem making Mass Effect 5. What's truly uncertain is whether or not its executives will let them.

"I think BioWare can do it," Troisi reiterates, "if we just leave them alone to do what they do best."

EA goes $20 billion in debt as part of its $55 billion buyout, and the BioWare fans who've already waited 8 years for Mass Effect 5 are terrified of how the company might cut costs.

Welcome to the GamesRadar+ RPG Club! If you're a returning member from the Club's playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3, we're thrilled to have you back. And if this is your first time joining us, you've picked the perfect time. We're just about to dive into The Blood of Dawnwalker, the new RPG from The Witcher 3 veterans at Rebel Wolves, and as this month's host (hello!) I chose this game for a few reasons.

For starters, the throughline from The Witcher 3's third-person action and consequential storytelling to The Blood of Dawnwalker is clear – which makes sense, given they share a director and numerous key developers. I've played a whopping 163 hours of The Witcher 3, so that alone is a good reason to jump in. Crucially, I'm sold on The Blood of Dawnwalker by its own merits, including a fascinating approach to the passage of time and vampire protagonist Coen, who can be built into a true creature of the night.

With so many variables in play, I can't wait to see how my experience varies from yours. As each in-game week passes, I'll be sharing what goes right (and wrong) for me in Vale Sangora, culminating in an attempt to rescue Coen's family on the hardest difficulty. Our Quest Log for this month's Club is below, and I'll also be lurking in our comments section with anyone who would like to discuss The Blood of Dawnwalker. So, without further ado: let's kick off the GamesRadar+ RPG Club for September!

Quest Log

RPG Club: The Blood of Dawnwalker (September 2026)

Meet this month's RPG Club host

This week's big question

RPG Masterclass

Get started with The Blood of Dawnwalker

Submit your best clips

Grab any great clips while terrorizing the night in The Blood of Dawnwalker? Don't forget to submit them to GamesRadar+ Replay. Not only will this give you an opportunity to share your gaming highlights with the GR+ Community, but the best clip of the month wins a $250/£250 Amazon voucher too.

I think of myself as an early adopter of Exodus, one of the first passengers aboard this particular RPG hype train. The risk of buying that kind of ticket, of course, is that you end up at your destination disappointed, let down by a game that hasn't lived up to your expectations. With Exodus, however, I've got no fear of that. My 60-minute, combat-focused demo showed off the Mass Effect successor I've been hoping this would be, and hints that the BioWare Magic might still be out there – it's just Archetype Magic now.

My demo is made up of a single mission, far enough into the game that protagonist Jun has come to terms with the powers offered by his mysterious Celestial connection. He's found a ship and assembled a crew to fill it. I'm assigned two companions before I start; Suliman favors the quiet approach, and can teleport in close to stab unaware enemies in the back. The second couldn't be more different – Elise pilots a towering mech, and her abilities hinge around a variety of ways to fire off as many rockets as possible. I quickly warm to her explosive charm, and while Suliman's smug, smarmy demeanor seems purposely designed as a frustrating foil to Jun, the fact I enjoy his company regardless is testament to his writers.

No exit

Jun will be the keystone around which every mission roster will be built. His personal armory of weapons offers decent variation even before you factor in gadgets and the powers bestowed by his gauntlet – a piece of ancient, alien technology that grants various abilities that can manipulate the environment and offer new combat options. In battle, I can cloak myself before repositioning to line up a powerful sniper shot, or lock a larger enemy in place before rushing in for a melee attack and following up with a volley of chattering shotgun fire.

Meanwhile, Suliman and Elise contribute their own firepower, letting me know when their abilities have recharged to let them dish out even more punishment. Controlling their timing and targets is simple but satisfying, a huge chunk of HP disappearing from enemy health bars whenever either one steps up.

Anyone familiar with Mass Effect should have no trouble picturing that system. It's Commander Shepherd reimagined, enhanced by virtue of Jun's massive arsenal of tools and gadgets. Most smaller-scale skirmishes are too small to rely on all of those toys, but gunplay has a satisfying spit, and ammo management offers an extra layer of strategy. I lean heavily on the sniper rifle, but its limited magazine means I have to be careful about when I make use of it.

I'm also pleased to see that Elise and Suliman will let me stay quiet at the start of an encounter, only turning their own weapons towards the enemy once the firefight has properly broken out. My only complaint is that in bigger boss fights, my companions feel largely ignored – in one battle, I'm relentlessly chased down by an enemy that often runs through the middle of my allies' hail of gunfire, a series of slightly clunky dodge-rolls my only way to avoid an attacker apparently unconcerned for their own wellbeing.

The caveat to the success of Exodus' combat is that an hour-long slice of a game that's supposed to take place over the span of centuries can't possibly begin to show off the weight of its choices. Its aping of Mass Effect-style combat is definitely successful, but I imagine we won't get a sense of how well it emulates that series' decision-making until launch.

Yet, I still got a good look at what seems to be a robust system of choice and consequence. Suliman and Elise's approval (or otherwise) of my actions flashes up several times, and I rack up a good number of Paladin alignment points by opting not to indulge my darker urges. In one of those moments, I get what I think is a glimpse at the longer-term decisions that will drive one of Exodus' core roleplaying systems – by sparing the life of an enemy grunt offered up as cannon fodder, I have a strong sense that that minor character could return to my story, years or even decades later. I'm only guessing, but it felt like a tantalizing glimpse at a larger system.

Wake me up

What my demo lacks in roleplaying it makes up for in world-building. Archetype has spent years fleshing out this universe through a collection of short stories, a novel, and even a tabletop game. It's easy to explain Exodus away as no more than the sum of its constituent parts: a Mass Effect-style sci-fi RPG drawing heavily from the time dilation at the heart of Interstellar. But, while we're yet to see many of those ideas at full strength yet, the depth that the studio has already woven into its creation is on show, primarily through the Awakened.

The Awakened are hyper-intelligent animals that occupy Exodus' universe alongside humans. The mission in my demo takes place on the planet Khonsu, home to the Kay, a species of Awakened frogs who maintain a shield around the planet to protect it from space debris. The Kay work on a fairly voluntary basis, but a recent invasion has threatened them, and in turn put the entire planet at risk.

Despite that, the Kay NPC we meet during the mission, C42, is a cheerful and energetic character who flits chaotically between subjects as Jun and Suliman try desperately to keep him on topic. He's a very different figure to the next Awakened we meet, a huge mama bear whose weight and fury makes them a terrifying foe. Talking animals aren't a huge narrative novelty, but the Awakened offer Exodus an identity, and the clever ways they seem to be woven into the galaxy alongside genuine extra-terrestrial species offers a means for the game to show itself off even when its core roleplaying components aren't available. I'm keen to see where else it goes, especially with Salt, an Awakened octopus who serves as a companion from within a water-filled chassis.

I'm aware launch is still some way off, but I've been following Exodus closely for nearly three years. In that time, the question of whether Archetype was capable of filling the large shoes it was making for itself was never really clear. Many newly-founded studios of veterans have spent years building something grandiose to capture the magic of what they'd made before, only for the project to never realize its full potential.

It's been a long time since we've had a major spiritual successor that was truly capable of living up to that title, but I'm ready to say that I think Exodus is it: This is Mass Effect 5 in all but name, engaging combat, strong roleplaying roots, and an engaging world and cast all combining to establish what I think is my now firmly my most-anticipated RPG after The Witcher 4. The last major test is whether Archetype can realize its ambition when it comes to its centuries-long depiction of choice and consequence, but the foundation it has built to support those ambitions seems more than strong enough to carry Exodus into the stars.

Before your exodus from this article, consider checking out our best RPGs ranking, or our games like Mass Effect recommendations for more adventures!

Although The Blood of Dawnwalker was only just released late Wednesday this week, it's already spurred mods (because of course it has) – one of which controversially alters what's arguably the vampire RPG's core mechanic.

In case you're not yet familiar with the game, The Blood of Dawnwalker features a pretty unforgiving time mechanic. You get 30 days and 30 nights, essentially, to wrap up all of the questing and exploration you'd like to do – and, for many folks, that's simply not enough.

So, how did players respond to the time lock? Well, by simply modding it away… with "Better Story Timer," as it's so aptly dubbed over on Nexus Mods, to be more specific.

The Blood of Dawnwalker mod allows you a whopping 90 days instead of the base 30 to do what you'd like with, makes it so that perks have no time cost, and increases the number of time segments in a day or night from eight to 32.

That's quite a lot, seeing as it basically flips the RPG's restrictive mechanic on its head – a restrictive mechanic that's meant to make your choices feel more meaningful, and adds a healthy layer of "what do I do" to the game.

Due to all this, it's not proving popular with everyone. Sure, it's already racked up a good 20,000 downloads and then some, but folks online are discouraging players from using it, saying it takes away The Blood of Dawnwalker's essence.

Over on X, one fan says it's a "bit strange to do… considering that it completely defeats the whole purpose of the game's design." A commenter adds, "People are too scared to make hard decisions."

A separate thread sees someone sharing in on the sentiment, writing, "People often complain about modern games being handholdy or too easy, and this is exactly why. The modern 'gamer' doesn't want to engage with the slightest bit of friction or discomfort."

Another post echoes this, too, with its author stating, "I can see why people want it, but doesn't this defeat the whole point of the time system?" Not everyone agrees entirely, though.

Over on Reddit, some people argue that Rebel Wolves, the studio behind the RPG (and the studio headed by CD Projekt Red veterans with credits on bangers like The Witcher 3), should officially implement some sort of choice in the game: "I think the obvious and easily implementable happy medium would be to have people play the game as RW intended in their first run, then have skills unlocked during that run carry over to the next in NG+."

They add, "That would sate both those dissatisfied with the nominal sense of progression and the completionist-brained of us."

That makes sense to me – playing it as intended the first time around and then having more freedom? Not a bad idea at all. Will Rebel Wolves do it? Who knows… but I know I'll be keeping my own fingers crossed.

I've only been playing a couple of days now, but the FOMO has been so, so real.

Read our The Blood of Dawnwalker review to see why the "time system for quests creates odd pacing," if you're thinking about playing one of this year's biggest new games yourself.

Equipping Onimusha Way of the Sword Charms allows you to boost stats such as healing effectiveness and attack power. You're shown how to use them early on in the game, including where to power them up, but you can't actually equip them at the same place, nor can you equip them at a Spirit Mirror, so how do you equip Way of the Sword Charms? I figured it out.

How to equip Way of the Sword Charms

You can equip and swap Onimusha Way of the Sword Charms from the pause menu, by tabbing over to Equipment, then to the Charms tab. You can only equip from here, you cannot level your charms up this way.

While you can't equip Way of the Sword Charms from Enma's Hall or Spirit Mirrors, being able to do so from the pause menu actually means you can switch your charms at any time, making it much easier to do so than you might originally think. Just be sure to power up the best charms whenever you return to Enma's Hall.

The best Onimusha Way of the Sword Charms

If you're wondering which Way of the Sword charms to spend your favor on and equip, then I'd strongly recommend the Charm of the Healer and the Lion Dog. Sadly, Lion Dog is a pre-order bonus.

You can equip only one charm at first, but with progress and enough Way of the Sword Power Stones, you can unlock the Basic Skill to increase the number of charms you can equip to two.

Once I've found all the Onimusha Way of the Sword charms, I'll add them and their locations in here.

In the meantime, you might want to check out which of the Way of the Sword Oni Armaments are the best to utilize, and make the most of the many Onimusha Way of the Sword fast travel locations.

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The Blood of Dawnwalker finally launched this week to "Mostly Positive" reviews on Steam as well as from critics and players, but as you should come to expect in the year 2026, there also seem to be some fairly substantial performance and optimization struggles bogging the whole thing down.

Rebel Wolves' debut title has been on my watchlist since its initial announcement, and it sounds like the wait has been worth it for most players, but I've been desperately trying to hold off on starting it until the inevitable array of bugs and performance problems have been patched out (GR's Austin Wood has a great writeup on that philosophy) – or my patience runs out, whichever comes first. The good news is Rebel Wolves is moving at a quick pace as it takes in feedback about the game's optimization, with the first post-launch hotfix having officially arrived on all platforms.

Patch 1.0.2, as it's named on Steam, is just a tiny little patch, but it's a good sign that Rebel Wolves got it out so quickly. After all, the game just launched yesterday, so the fact that we're already seeing performance patches is encouraging. Anyway, onto the changes:

The hotfix includes fixes for three specific gameplay bugs. Rebel Wolves says in the patched version, "Coen can talk to Farkas now even after killing all NPCs around him," "Lunka no longer gets lost when leading Coen in the tutorial," and "Uriashi blacksmith learned how to craft a certain holy sword." I just love the thought of the tutorial guide getting lost and turning back toward you with a shrug.

A PC-only fix makes "adjustments to controller dead zone and input issues while sprinting (PC Only)," and uh, that's it. That's the patch. Like I said, it ain't much, but Rebel Wolves promises there's more to come, even acknowledging certain issues like stuttering (it advises you launch the game in full-screen for now), game crashes (make sure your BIOS is up to date), and the conspicuous absence of button mapping options for PS5 controllers.

"We will continue to make improvements so that you can enjoy The Blood of Dawnwalker more comfortably," the dev says. "Thank you for your support and patience."

You know what, I think I've waited long enough. Is it 5PM yet?

Time to read up on our guide on what to do first in The Blood of Dawnwalker after the prologue

The Blood of Dawnwalker launched just yesterday, rising the ranks of Steam with its "Mostly Positive" reviews – but the big new vampire RPG headed by CD Projekt Red veterans hasn't arrived without its fair share of amusing chaos.

Sure, there are the PC optimization issues which Rebel Wolves is currently addressing – but those are hardly as intriguing as, say, a fat red "DO NOT USE" sign where an asset should be. Right?

Well, folks seem to think so over on Reddit, where some eagle-eyed fans apparently caught wind of a leftover developer asset in the game's prologue. As the thread so eloquently asks, screenshot of said asset attached, "Lol, what the hell is this?"

So, what does it look like? Well, it's bright red and sits in the silver mines where logs and rocks should be… and reads, "D O NOT USE THIS ASSET!" Not once, not twice, y'all – it's covered in the exclamation, making this all the more hilarious.

"Looks like someone used the asset they weren't supposed to," muses the original poster. Fellow players find the situation just as amusing, with one commenting, "Obviously an asset that you should NOT use."

Others jest that Rebel Wolves will be "busy this week" remedying such hiccups, while some actually beg the devs to not remove it: "Please don't fix this."

Plenty simply state that they "love" mistakes like the forgotten placeholder asset, too – and I'd have to agree. It's a silly yet understandable mix-up, and aside from breaking the immersion a bit, it's harmless overall. Plus, it's funny as heck… and I'm always down to laugh.

How will Rebel Wolves respond, though? Well, the devs haven't said anything about the leftover asset since it was flagged over on Reddit – yet, anyway. I'm thinking they'll probably (sadly) patch it out quite soon, but I suppose only time will tell.

Read our The Blood of Dawnwalker review to find out why we think it has "clear Witcher DNA" if you're thinking about playing one of this year's biggest new games yourself.

As you try to level up your abilities, you'll soon realize you need Power Stones and Oni Stones in Onimusha Way of the Sword. The former are needed for powering up your Basic Skills, including sneak attacks and your Oni Bow. The latter, meanwhile, are required more powerful Special Skills, which include your Oni Armaments. Both Onimusha Way of the Sword Power Stones and Oni Stones are found in the same sort of places, as I'll explain below.

How to get Oni Stones and Power Stones in Way of the Sword

Oni Stones and Power stones are both found in large black chests that can be found around the world in Onimusha Way of the Sword. Some of these can be found in your surroundings as normal, while others are revealed using your Oni Vision.

Smaller boxes that you find will never contain these Stones, and instead hold consumable combat items such as food for healing, or items that you can exchange for favor in order to level up your Way of the Sword Charms. So, to level up your powers, its important that you keep an eye out for the very special chests shown in the image at the top of the page. The easiest way to find them is to look out for treasure icons on your in-game map.

To find those which are hidden, keep an eye out for a blue glow coming from your Gauntlet as you explore the entire world not just Eastern Kyoto. Any time your Gauntlet glows blue, trigger Oni Vision, and you'll likely reveal the location of one of these chests.

Luckily, only early improvements require these rare stones, and you'll then only need to spend Red Souls to further level up your skills. These are obtained through all combat and are stored in your Gauntlet, so you'll probably find you have plenty spare when the time comes.

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When trying to find a way into the Oni Refuge in Onimusha Way of the Sword, you need to take in your surroundings and think about the weapons at your disposal, as there's no other way out once you jump into the gated area.

Once you've had a look around you're sure to spot the one clear hint at what to do next, but if you're still not sure what to do when you spot it, here's a quick walkthrough on opening the gate and getting into the Oni Refuge.

How to get into the Oni Refuge

To get into the Oni Refuge in Onimusha Way of the Sword, head round to the left of the locked gate to the hole in the fence. Aim your Oni Bow through it to the padlock on the other side of the locked gate and shoot it to break it. Now you can open the gate from your side.

That's really all it takes to get into the Oni Refuge, but it might not be immediately obvious, especially if you don't look at the other side of the gate. At first it may even appear as though Musashi should be able to simply vault through the fence hole - after all, he's climbed higher ledges than that one!

While this challenge requires your basic ranged weapon, the best Way of the Sword Oni Armaments will get your out of trouble in more difficult situations. My separate guide tells you where to find them all.

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To find the three stolen Onimusha Way of the Sword Stout Pillars, you need to climb and smash your way through the landscape. While the in-game map takes you to each pillar's rough location, finding them in the area is down to you - guided lightly by each pillar's booming voice and some subtle suggestions from the 'Gauntlet Lady'.

If you're having trouble finding any of the three Stout Pillars - or even all of them - I've got their specific locations below, including how to get to them, so read on to complete the Careful What You Wish for quest, and find out just what's in store.

First Way of the Sword Stout Pillar location

To find the first Stout Pillar, head to the northern-most quest location marker on your map that takes you to an enclosure with two ladders, which you can see on the in-game map. Once nearby, you'll find a gate on the west side that you can push open, leading to a courtyard in which you'll have to defeat some Genma. Once the area is clear, move around the left of the building to the back where you can climb a ladder and find the first Stout Pillar.

Crucially, you need to now stay in this area to find the second Stout Pillar, following the directions below.

Second Way of the Sword Stout Pillar location

The second pillar can only be found from the same area in which you found the first, as the gate to this area is now locked. You must climb back down from where you found the first Stout Pillar, then head back towards the gate through which you entered, but now go through the door on your left.

Work your way through this building, then climb the ladder to the attic, crawl under some debris, and finally drop down into the next courtyard, defeating any Genma in your way.

Now the Stout Pillar is easy to find as he's just sitting on the ground, but he is surrounded by Genma, so take care here. Afterwards you can leave this area through the previously locked gate, unlocking it from the inside.

Third Way of the Sword Stout Pillar location

To find the third Stout Pillar, head to the quest marker in the south west of Kyoto. There is a locked gate to the north of the area, and you'll instead need to enter the gate to the south east of the quest marker.

When inside, defeat any Genma and then head to the far left (south) of the area, where you'll find a door into the building. Work your way through the building and back out into the garden on the other side, where you'll hear the Stout Pillar talking to you. Here, you'll find the Stout Pillar inside a pot under a tree. Simply smash the pot to locate the final Stout Pillar.

A bit further on, you'll also need to find a way into a tricky locked area, the Oni Refuge. If you need help figuring out how to get into the Oni Refuge, come back to my separate guide for another handy walkthrough.

To defeat the pesky Genma blocking your path at every turn, you'll need to know which are the best Way of the Sword Oni Armaments, and where to find them.

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Onimusha Way of the Sword Oni Armaments are among the most powerful abilities you'll be granted during your adventure as Musashi, and there are a total of six to find across the expansive map. While you can try and find some of the Armaments early using the maps below, you may find some areas are covered in Malice and are inaccessible.

Instead, if you follow the main story, some Armaments are found naturally as you carry out main missions. Others, however, can easily be missed. One of the easiest to pass by is The Flashing Void, which, as you can see from my list below, is one of the best Way of the Sword Oni Armaments, so you won't want to miss out. To find that, and discover which Oni Armaments are the best to rely on, keep reading.

Best Onimusha Way of the Sword Oni Armaments

The best Oni Armaments can be narrowed down to three of the powerful weapons, each used in different situations. They are:

• Wind-Whipper
• Earth-Shakers
• The Flashing Void

The Wind-Whipper is the second Oni Armament you'll come across and is an incredible upgrade from the Two Celestials, especially in large groups. This is the only choice when you're surrounded by Genma - even just three or four - as it completely obliterates all low-end foes in an instant, leaving any stronger enemies with significantly reduced health, making them easier to take down yourself.

Switch the Wind-Whipper out for the Earth-Shakers when up against a single boss or mini boss. Charged up, they deal a huge amount of Break Damage, allowing you to carry out Break Issen attacks more frequently, which is essential against challenging enemies. The only down side to the Earth-Shakers is that they take a while to charge and you can still be open to attack while doing so, so take some time to learn the timing. You can use them quickly, but the uncharged attack deals less Break Damage.

Finally, the powerful Flashing Void is almost the opposite of the Earth-Shakers. While they don't deal a significant amount of Break Damage, they instead take a huge chunk out of your opponent's health. The true benefit to using the Flashing Void over the Earth-Shakers is that, while it does require charging to be at its most powerful, its charge slows down time and it can be done from further away, meaning you're much safer when doing so.

All Way of the Sword Oni Armament locations

Here are all six Onimusha Way of the Sword Oni Armaments and their locations:

• The Two Celestials
  • In a chest protected by a Spider during the The Stage is Set at Kiyomizu main quest. Will be obtained during the story.
• Wind-Whipper
  • Gifted by Takamura when you first enter the Practice Ground. Will be obtained during the story.
• Earth-Shakers
  • In a chest in the Underground Laboratory during the What Lurks in the Shadows main quest, in the room after the broken turbine. Can be missed, but you can return to the lab.
• Firebird Flute
  • In a chest in the South East area of Kyoto during the Shadows Fall main quest. Can be missed, but you can return to the area, directly south of the Gojo Street Spirit Mirror.
• The Flashing Void
  • In a chest in a cavern on the way to the Mount Oe Castle Courtyard during the Demon on the Mount main quest. Can easily be missed, but you can return to the area.
• TBC
  • This information is currently under embargo so I don't spoil any endgame stuff!

For more detailed explanations of any of the locations above, including maps, read on.

The Two Celestials location

You shouldn't miss The Two Celestials, as you'll come across the first Oni Armaments during the early-game mission in which you go off to explore Kiyomizu-Dera Temple. You'll need to "follow the threads", leading you to rather creepy hand-spiders, one of which will have wrapped it's web of threads around a chest containing the valuable dual daggers.

Wind-Whipper location

The Wind-Whipper is another Oni Armament you cannot miss, as Takamura takes you to the Practice Ground as part of the main story. While you are not obliged to revisit unless you want to, your first trip there is mandatory, during which you'll receive the Wind-Whipper - along with a practice session on using it.

Earth-Shakers location

Alongside being one of the best Oni Armaments, the Earth-Shakers are also the first you can actually miss if you aren't opening chests. Following the turbine section in the What Lurks in the Shadows main quest, you can find the Earth-Shakers in a chest in the very next room you enter, on your left. If you have already missed it, simply use Way of the Sword fast travel to return to Underground Level 4 of the lab. The exact room is marked on the map above.

Firebird Flute location

Like the Earth-Shakers, the Firebird Flute is located in a chest you don't have to open, so you can, in theory, miss it. To find them, you must head southwest from the Gojo Street Spirit Mirror and into the area marked on the map above. There are lots of Genma here, of course, so keep your wits about you as you go.

The Flashing Void location

The Flashing Void is the easiest Oni Armament to miss, as it's located in a dead end cavern along to route to the castle at the top of Mount Oe. As you head from the valley to the castle, you'll see a small passage on your right, as seen on the map above, and this is where you can find the Flashing Void. If you missed it during the Demon on the Mount quest, you can return to the area to collect it later.

It's worth giving all of the Way of the Sword Oni Armaments a try, just to see if you gel with any I've not recommended above. For example, the Firebird Flute deals fire damage to up to three nearby foes, while also staggering them when they're hit, which is another great alternative to the Wind-Whipper for crowd control. While I still prefer the Wind-Whipper, you may enjoy seeing the Genma burn.

Alongside the thousands of Red Souls you'll collect defeating Genma on your travels, you'll need Onimusha Way of the Sword Oni Stones to level up your Oni Armaments, so keep your eyes peeled as your explore.

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Onimusha Way of the Sword fast travel locations are marked by Spirit Mirrors, where you can also upgrade your gear and change your outfit. While some of these Spirit Mirrors will be obvious as you explore Kyoto and carry out the main story, you may sprint straight past others, and they'll be useful if you want to carry out side quests later on.

So, if you're interested in unlocking the map to its fullest, you'll find every Onimusha Way of the Sword fast travel location below, separated into each of the different areas of the map.

Eastern Kyoto fast travel locations

As the central location and the area in which you'll spend most of your time, travelling between the other locations in this guide, naturally there are more fast travel points in East Kyoto than any other area. You also won't necessarily need to unlock all of these, but if you want to rescue Lion Dogs and gather collectibles, you'll probably want as many fast travel options as possible.

This is also where you'll need to look for the Way of the Sword Stout Pillars, and you can use fast travel to speed up the process.

Kiyomizu-dera Temple fast travel locations

The walk to Kiyomizu-dera Temple is one of the longest in the game, and you'll definitely want to unlock the Spirit Mirror once you reach the end. Alongside the fast travel points at the start and end of this long stretch, you'll find another once you reach the temple grounds. Given the twisting turns of the alleyways between buildings here, this one is also important is you want to return later, so best to check them all off as soon as possible.

Oni Refuge fast travel locations

Once you've discovered how to get into the Oni Refuge in Onimusha Way of the Sword, you'll find two Spirit Mirrors: one at the very north, and one at the very south. This makes it far easier to cut out a long stretch of walking if you want to return to the area later on.

Nijo-jo Castle fast travel locations

As you can see from my screenshot above, Nijo-jo Castle is home to some side quests - namely the adorable Lion Dogs you'll need to find and rescue. If that's something you want to do, then both Nijo-jo Castle Spirit Mirrors are handy to have unlocked to save you a bit of time.

Underground Laboratory fast travel locations

There are multiple floors in the Underground Lab, but you can see all of the fast travel locations marked above. Once you've completed the main quest that takes place here, the main one you might want to use again is likely to be Grand Theatre, but since there are no side quests here, you'll only need to return if you've missed the powerful Way of the Sword Oni Armament that can be found in the lab.

Kyoto Imperial Palace fast travel locations

While there are only two Spirit Mirrors in the Kyoto Imperial Palace, you might want to travel back for side quests later on, so it's worth unlocking them both while you're here. Of course, as with any of the fast travel points, you may also want to stop off to stock up on Hozuki or level up your gear.

Mount Oe fast travel locations

I've had to cobble together an image of all four levels of the Mount Oe map to showcase all nine of the Spirit Mirrors here. It's a complex area - something Musashi's voice lines won't help you forget in a hurry - which is why it's important that you unlock each fast travel point when you have the chance.

There are a few more areas around which you can fast travel, and we'll add them in time. Most are easy to find though, with Eastern Kyoto being the most important area.

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The Blood of Dawnwalker only released last night, but the new vampire RPG headed by CD Projekt Red veterans is seeing a mixed bag of feedback from fans – and it all seems to boil down to the game's performance on PC.

Stop me if you've heard this before, but a big new game that's performing relatively well on consoles is, erm, not exactly performing as well on PC – you know, poor optimization and all that.

That's precisely the fate that The Blood of Dawnwalker is currently suffering, having initially launched to "Mixed" reviews on Steam (which have now risen to "Mostly Positive" overall) thanks to hardware-related problems.

You can read through the feedback yourself to get a taste of fans' thoughts, with many saying that, while they're "really digging the vibe" of the game, "the optimization needs some work." Folks also report that The Blood of Dawnwalker "runs poorly" despite their PC meeting the recommended requirements outlined on Steam.

The discussion has spread further online, too, with one thread over on Reddit simply declaring the "optimization is way beyond trash."

There are plenty more where that came from as well, with another post pointing out that most of the negative reviews on Steam "are about performance" and more sharing their disappointment in the game's lack of HDR support.

Rebel Wolves, the studio behind the RPG with talent from The Witcher 3, is aware of the community's complaints, however… and, while it works on a more concrete update, it offers some quick solutions.

Over on Twitter, the team outlines some of the "known issues" flagged in reviews and the like before giving some "fixes and workarounds," because, thankfully, there are some measures we can take as players ourselves to improve performance on PC.

For example, if the game is stuttering for you, "please try launching the game in Full Screen" mode instead of windowed or borderless – a fix that I can safely say worked for me, at least.

Rebel Wolves has others, too, like updating your BIOS to avoid crashes – and, as for the issues we can't resolve on our end, the developers say, "we're already working on it."

So, keep an eye out for patches over the next few days… perhaps they'll remedy the game feeling like it has a "AAA price tag without AAA performance," as a commenter writes.

Read our The Blood of Dawnwalker review to find out why we think it has "clear Witcher DNA" if you're thinking about playing one of this year's biggest new games yourself.

The Blood of Dawnwalker is finally here, and in just 11 hours or so, it's managed to rack up nearly 2,000 Steam reviews and a "Mostly Positive" rating.

It only launched yesterday evening (or night, if you're overseas like me), but a good few of us stayed up to see what Rebel Wolves, the studio headed by CD Projekt Red veterans, had in store with its exciting vampire RPG – and the verdict is that it's pretty good.

Unsurprisingly, the official Steam page shows countless reviews referencing The Witcher 3 and The Blood of Dawnwalker's unmistakable Witcher-y vibes… which is a great thing, actually.

As one review reads, "This is the most Witcher-not-Witcher game I've ever played. In other words, peak." The Witcher, peak? Indeed. Another adds, "Highly recommend it, especially if you are looking for an RPG that captures what made both The Witcher and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines so special."

Now that's a blend I can get behind myself, and it's clear that lots of people agree. Not everyone is 100% impressed, however.

Some folks are actually not enjoying The Blood of Dawnwalker, as per its "Mostly Positive" rating – the key word here being "mostly," of course.

"Tried to like this game," as one disappointed reviewer writes. "The music and setting are fantastic. Unfortunately the actual gameplay lets it down." Others echo this sentiment, while more point out that optimization is poor and they're facing performance issues and buggy behavior as a result.

"Really digging the vibe," one such review admits. "Story is interesting. Characters are interesting.. Sadly the optimization needs some work" Another says, "Given I meet the recommended requirements, this game runs poorly."

All in all, though, again, most of the feedback is quite positive – it seems that Rebel Wolves will just have a few wrinkles to iron out post-release, which isn't exactly unheard of nowadays.

I, for one, am genuinely enjoying the new RPG – and, thankfully, I've not run into any issues on PC myself just yet. Fingers crossed I (and you, should you play) don't.

Thinking about playing one of this year's biggest new games yourself? Read through our The Blood of Dawnwalker review to find out why we think it has "clear Witcher DNA."

If you're stressed about AI slop creeping its way into The Witcher 4, fear not, CD Projekt Red says it's still using humans as its primary means of developing games, even if robots are seemingly replacing people at an alarming rate everywhere else.

During CDPR's latest earnings call, joint CEO Michał Nowakowski was asked to explain the company's current approach to AI in game development, and he toed the line in a similar way to most executives from major studios. Essentially, he acknowledged the tech's usefulness in certain areas of development but rejected straight-up AI-generated games, which isn't a particularly hot take but is noteworthy coming from the co-head of a studio behind some of the most anticipated games on the horizon.

"AI is definitely becoming a thing in the games development as well. We are still predominantly using people and this is our plan, to make games where we're not walking away from that," says Nowakowski. "AI, if anything, is a tool like many others that's helping in places that can maybe become more helpful in the future but we're not planning to rely on AI making complete games."

Well, that's certainly a relief. Here I was worrying a piece of obscure AI-generated concept art would find its way into The Witcher 4; now I have to deal with the idea of completely AI-generated games, but thankfully Nowakowski made it clear CDPR draws an ethical line on atrocities like that. What other developers do with their games, however, is up to them.

"To be honest, especially with very complex games like ours, I don't even think this is the right or ethical path to follow, so whether this is true for the whole industry, I'm not the person to make those statements. I think everybody has to make those judgments on their own."

Ultimately, Nowakowski's current philosophy on AI in game development mirrors the most common sentiments expressed by video game executives across the board: it's largely fine if used to streamline processes as long as it doesn't make it into the final product. There's no telling whether that approach will change as the technology evolves, but for now we can rest easy knowing AI-generated Geralt only exists in our nightmares.

"It creates lesser games": Indie game studios are supposed to love generative AI, so why do the 25 devs I spoke to avoid it?

The Witcher 4 is in production – or, more specifically, "full-scale production," as developer CD Projekt Red put it back in 2024. The studio has offered the public only a few small, tantalizing glimpses at the upcoming RPG, but it's passing new internal development milestones all the time. Those kinds of things are just too technical to announce to the public.

With The Witcher 4 officially targeting a 2028 release, joint CEO Michał Nowakowski was asked about where the team is at in regard to key development milestones as part of a recent investor Q&A. "As we have stated quite a few times before, we're in the full production stage of The Witcher 4, which roughly means – in very broad strokes – that we know what kind of game we're making," Nowakowski says.

"Then it's filling the game with content and so on," he continues. "We're not going into specific details. There's a lot of milestones we have internally. There's a pickup of specific batches, pickup of specific milestones. So we're not announcing all of them because a lot of them are very technical, very internal, and actually wouldn't really mean a lot to the external audience."

For those of us who don't work within the halls of CD Projekt Red, The Witcher 4 has appeared in the form of an extended cinematic trailer, an open-world tech demo, and various statements from executives and developers just like this. The devs themselves would seemingly prefer to keep their heads down and stick to actually building the game.

"This is what is happening right now: the actual making of the game till its release date," Nowakowski says. "Every milestone is a moment for us to look at it and ponder where we are, how well we are progressing with the development. Is anything hindering us? Is there any iteration that is required? And so on."

CD Projekt has set a high bar for itself with one of the best RPGs ever made.

Last week, Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 provided us with our first look at both The Witcher 3 Remastered and CD Projekt Red's new expansion for the RPG, Songs of the Past.

The expansion marks the return of Geralt's voice actor, Doug Cockle, who is taking on the role of the game's silver-haired protagonist once more… a role he's now been familiar with for over 20 years, since the original Witcher game.

How does Cockle feel stepping back into Geralt's boots for Songs of the Past, though? Well, he tells GamesRadar+ at Gamescom 2026.

"It's always a thrill to step back into Geralt's shoes," Cockle admits. "He is a character I know very, very well, so it's always a pleasure to revisit him, and it has been for Songs of the Past as well."

It's comforting, too, as per the actor's words – sort of like… taking a hot bath at the end of a tough day, apparently? "I always describe it as like slipping into a warm bath," as Cockle puts it. "It's just very comfortable, very easy."

Acting is "still work," however, as he goes on to say – "but it's work that is very comfortable for me to to move back into, and it's always a pleasure." That makes sense.
After all, "I've been voicing Geralt since 2006, I think it is," Cockle recalls, "so over 20 years now, and as long as CDPR keeps asking me to come back…" he will. Yes, even if he's "like 80 years old," he'd still be willing to voice the beloved witcher.

John Schwab, voice of Dandelion, largely feels the same. He tells GamesRadar+ that he "got more excitement stepping into the booth because I was returning to the character."

So The Witcher RPG series is one its actors are not only comfy with at this point (and then some), but also one that they genuinely enjoy being a part of. As a fan myself, as much is made obvious by their observable talent.

Nobody was more surprised by The Witcher 3 Songs of the Past than Geralt and Dandelion's actors: "They announced the expansion pack before we knew what we were doing."

Mark Darrah, a former longtime developer at BioWare who served as executive producer on Dragon Age Origins, 2, and Inquisition, has some words of wisdom for the Baldur's Gate 3 devs Larian Studios. He believes the company's taking a bit of a risk with Divinity, but it's avoiding mistakes his former employer made in the process.

"The question I would have for Larian is did their core shift with Baldur's Gate 3?" he says on The Examined Game podcast. "Did they take a big step, with meaning to or not, to a different place? And is that new place where they actually want to be now?"

He mentions this in light of the Divinity trailer, where the fiery next chapter in Larian's homegrown series is teased in typically dour fashion. "If I'm a Baldur's Gate person and the only Larian game I've ever played is Baldur's Gate 3, I think some people are going to look at that trailer and go 'what, what?' and it's not that it's not true to what Larian was, but it might not be true to what Larian is," he comments.

I think what he's getting at is whether the core audience has shifted. Are there now a bunch of Dungeons & Dragons fans a bit unsure of Divinity? And is Larian alright with that potential dissonance? Fair questions – after putting out a hit like the third Baldur's Gate, you need to tread lightly, to an extent, and figure out who your community is now.

That said, Darrah believes the team has already avoided pitfalls BioWare fell into. "Larian's doing something that BioWare never did, it's very much deciding to be one thing at a time," he muses.

The studio is focusing on one major project at any given time, rather than juggling series like BioWare did, where you had Mass Effect and Dragon Age installments coming out concurrently. "There's a lot of risk involved in that," he adds, but he believes it gives the devs a stronger core.

"The power of that is there's never a moment where your studio is branching into two different things and slowly evolving away from itself," he says. "And then you're trying to force those two things back together again, and it's bouncing off itself along the way."

Certainly, if Larian can avoid the problems of Mass Effect: Andromeda and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, it'll be doing well.

Baldur's Gate 3 mod adds 6-hour campaign all about Astarion, featuring new companions, 4 different endings, and "a kitty that potentially accepts scritches."

Dragon's Dogma 2 has finally got its long-awaited performance patch, and players are over the moon about how the game runs.

Dragon's Dogma 2 is a great game, one of the best open-world games in my eyes, and was my game of the year back in 2024. Despite that, it garnered a lot of criticism over many of its aspects, namely some of the punishing mechanics and friction it imposed on the player with the limited fast travel and Dragonsplague – a disease that could wipe out an entire village of NPCs, locking you out of quests in the process. I loved a lot of its esoteric features (Dragonsplague is so cool) but one thing we could all agree on was the performance was not it. As the RE Engine's first open-world game, the engine struggled to keep up, which we later saw with Monster Hunter Wilds' woes.

However, with the announcement of Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, Capcom decided it was going to tackle the game's biggest issues. This began with an update earlier this summer which added unlimited fast travel and some quality of life adjustments, and another update launching today which added new save slots, adjustments to Dragonsplague, and crucially, performance improvements.

With the release of the update today, fans flooded the Dragon's Dogma subreddit to talk about the improvements, with performance being a big talking point. One user says, "The performance boost is insane," with another noting, "I went from 30 ON LOW to 60 on high, Capcom im sorry I doubted you."

And, as another post points out, this update actually lowered the system requirements on the game's Steam page, too.

Of course, Capcom needed to improve the performance either way, but I think the Nintendo Switch 2 is partly to thank too. Given the developers would need to get it running on the handheld, it likely played a big role in this update, too.

Capcom returns to its divisive RPG with Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, and the dev leading the expansion says its friction will be preserved – "That is something that we offer so that players can make a decision on how to play."

Bethesda is among the many game studios affected by the ongoing mass layoffs at Xbox, which are set to cut 3,200 jobs by the end of the 2027 fiscal year. At least 1,600 employees have already been let go, including Skyrim and Fallout veterans with decades-long careers like Christiane Meister and Ray Lederer. It apparently was a rude awakening for staff at the storied studio, who'd hoped their work on such legendary franchises would insulate them from Microsoft's cost-cutting.

"There was an impending sense of doom, and it was like, man, is it going to be us?" Anne Barrett, who worked at Bethesda Game Studios Austin, tells The Guardian. "We thought we were safe. I mean, Bethesda Games Studios is Skyrim, it’s Fallout. We have really highly anticipated stuff coming out. We thought that the work we were doing was going to keep us safe. And instead, we got brought into a meeting that was two minutes long, to end, in some cases, decades of career at the company. It was just devastating."

Employees seemingly didn't have any more insight into the layoffs than the public did. They worried over the same reports of mass job cuts that the rest of us were all reading. The Guardian reports that they all learned of the mass layoffs when Asha Sharma published her "resetting Xbox" memo for the world to read. An hour later, people were called into meetings where they learned who had been fired.

"I remember, I laughed the whole day because I was in complete disbelief," Barrett says. "I was like, there’s no way they’re doing this. That’s how I processed it. Some of my co-workers were just devastated. I mean, breaking down. They did not understand what was going on. We had people who were just in really dark places. I think it hit me probably the next day. I felt like, wow – I just spent seven years doing all this. In college, people called me Bethesda because it was my dream to work here. And that was just … gone."

There are numerous upcoming Bethesda games in various stages of production, including the likes of The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5. Series fans have been waiting well over a decade for both of those RPGs, and they'll likely be among the biggest titles Xbox has ever released. Yet it's still been willing to cut the veteran talent who helped make the previous entries great.

"I don't know how you create games at the quality level we were without the institutional knowledge that's been lost," Barrett says. "We have proprietary tech. Our titles have a very well-known visual identity. And when you lose the people who built the tech, when you lose the people who were improving it, you can't just throw new people at that problem, right? You can’t replace an artist with someone brand new and say: 'Now replicate what they were doing 15, 20 years ago.' The company has said that they can do it. I disagree."

Barrett says that her "view of the industry has definitely been damaged." arguing that "there’s been a loss of sight over why AAA games were so valuable to players. It wasn't just that they were big and shiny. It was that [the studios] had the resources to invest in creativity. What I see now is the same formula over and over and over again. In any entertainment industry, if you do that enough times, people get tired of it. I would love for us as an industry to get back to actually being creative and investing in that creativity."

EA devs feel "the threat of layoffs at all times," especially after Saudi Arabia acquisition: "It's hard to see how teams or games that underperform wouldn't be dissolved."

The Witcher 3 Remastered launches later this month as a free update for all existing owners of the RPG. It's a meaty update with a load of improvements, including freshly revamped combat. CD Projekt Red might even have been forgiven for treating it as an all-new game and charging existing Witcher 3 owners for the privilege of paying for it. But joint CEO Michał Nowakowski says that possibility was never even on the table.

"I don't think it was ever a thought we even had," Nowakowski tells The Game Business. "It was never a question we asked ourselves. The way we thought about it is like 'it's an improvement.'" CD Projekt has made a habit of offering massive, free updates for its previous games, notably including The Witcher 1 and Cyberpunk 2077.

Of course, the remaster is being subsidized in other ways: partly through a price hike for new buyers, and partly through sales of the upcoming Songs of the Past DLC. Nowakowski doesn't address the price increase, but he does say the expansion was always part of the calculation.

"We never thought about this way," Nowakowski says of charging for the remaster. "The commercial bit of it is the expansion, obviously. We really felt this is the CDPR way, to gift it to the players who already own it. Of course, if you haven't, then you will have to purchase the game from scratch. But then we tried to sweeten the deal for you by adding two expansions into the whole package. It was just never a question we asked ourselves, to be honest."

The remaster itself exists because of the work CD Projekt Red was doing with Fool's Theory on Songs of the Past, according to Nowakowski. "We started chatting, like 'why don't we make the game more modern? Everything feels like it was developed like 10 years ago.' That was really the beginning of the conversation," he explains.

"'What could we do to improve it?' It started with small things like 'maybe let's fix this,' 'maybe let's fix that,' and then it turned into this larger project," he says. "We suddenly realized we actually have a remaster on our hands."

Here are all the upcoming CD Projekt Red games you need to know about.

There was a peculiar vibe throughout Gamescom 2026's Opening Night Live showcase, pronounced by the fact that its biggest reveal, the dramatic climax of the whole event, was an update for an 11-year-old game. The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past, DLC taking place after the events of the original game and the Blood and Wine expansion, was announced back in May but we got our first proper look at it during this year's Gamescom, and if you felt like it was the highlight of the show, some newly revealed Steam data backs that up.

Rhys Elliott, head of market analysis at Alinea Analytics, shared the top winners from Gamescom 2026 by Steam wishlists on Twitter, and The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past took the top spot by a pretty large margin. The DLC gained an estimated 451,000 wishlists between August 23, two days before Opening Night Live, and the end of the event on August 30.

The hype around The Witcher series is amplified by several major developments, including the DLC and the recently announced Witcher 3 remaster, and headlined by the upcoming sequel, The Witcher 4, which is "targeting" a 2028 release.

Warlock was another big hitter during the event and takes second place in Elliott's ranking with an estimated increase in Steam wishlists of 379,000. The next big D&D game to come after Baldur's Gate 3 showed off almost 10 minutes of gameplay, exploring a gritty RPG world and cast led by none other than Maggie Robertson, who you'll remember as Oren the Red in Baldur's Gate 3 and Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Village.

Coming in at third place is the very anime open-world RPG Ananta, which gained an estimated 302,000 Steam wishlists during Gamescom week. The free-to-play game, which can reasonably be likened to an anime take on GTA, got a January 2027 release date during the show, and a new trailer showed off high-speed vehicle chases and vehicular combat as well as what appears to be some sort of flying mechanic. Frankly, it was a lot to take in even in the context of anime-inspired GTA-like games, which is already a wild concept.

The rest of the list, in order of most-to-least Steam wishlists gained during the event, includes Lego: Skylines (273,000), Heroes of Might and Magic 3 (189,000), Wardogs (146,000), Afterworld (121,000), Metro 2039 (110,000), and The Blood of Dawnwalker (108,000), which just launched to pretty great reviews.

The Witcher 3 Remastered won't scrap saves or achievements from the OG RPG as CD Projekt Red confirms it'll all carry over.

CD Projekt Red's games – think banger RPGs like Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 – perform quite well on consoles… and even though such platforms have hit a bit of a wall costs-wise with the RAMpocalypse and what have you, the studio isn't worried.

Michał Nowakowski, joint CD Projekt Red CEO, explains as much in a new interview with The Game Business, describing how he believes console brands like Xbox and PlayStation will live on despite RAM shortage struggles and other roadblocks – and his own company's games' potential performance on such platforms in the future is not a concern at this point.

"I'm not worried," as Nowakowski says. "Consoles are still necessary to broaden the audience on the casual or semi-casual level. It's important to have easy to plug in and enjoy gaming."

I suppose he's right there. Although I'm more of a PC gamer myself, I can appreciate the moments I kick back to play on my Switch 2 for a change. It's a matter of convenience – and, yes, price… even if consoles are hiking their own price tags.

Regardless, Nowakowski doesn't see them going anywhere.

"I'm a big believer that they're going to weather the storm," he admits, going on to say he's aware of the "the objective challenge" that is pricing – and the rumors of next-gen consoles being delayed.

I mean, Sony's CEO couldn't give a release date for the PS6 last month, and the ongoing shortage of hardware components isn't helping settle consumers' concerns. But, does it really matter either way?

Nowakowski thinks not.

"How we reach gamers is a little irrelevant. Content is the king. And if the content is right, people will find a way to play it," the CD Projekt Red lead says. "When we launch, if PS5, Xbox Series X/S is what people are playing, we're going to be there. We're going to find a business model that’s going to work for us, that's going to be fine for players, and that's it."

Sounds pretty good, if you ask me… deliver to the players, wherever they may be.

"If the next-gen gets delayed, it could be the case that some ideas are put on a shelf for the future," Nowakowski concludes. "We'd have to adjust. We're not worried on the commercial side. Consoles are here to stay" – and, you know, something tells me he's right.

The Witcher 3 Remastered won't scrap saves or achievements from the OG RPG as CD Projekt Red confirms it'll all carry over

The video game industry is equal parts art and business, and convincing the business people in the industry to actually fund the artists is a never-ending struggle. (Just look at the furloughed devs behind the recently released Star Wars: Zero Company.) But CD Projekt Red joint CEO Michał Nowakowski knows that some games – like The Witcher 4 and GTA 6 – can't be made by pinching pennies.

"We are cost-conscious," Nowakowski tells The Game Business. "It's not unimportant. We're a business in the end, so I would [be lying] if I said it doesn't matter how much the game costs. But the first thing is whether the quality we're meeting is there, period. Whether we're meeting the expectations of what the fans are expecting from the next installment of The Witcher. This is the dominant thing we look at."

The Witcher 4 certainly doesn't have an unlimited budget, and Nowakowski alludes to certain financial "boundaries" guiding the game's development. But he says cost is not the "number one position" in determining the production plan.

"But I definitely wouldn’t say this is a cost-driven development," he continues. "If you want to have a cost-driven development – and that’s proper business thinking for a lot of games – you cannot make a game like The Witcher 4. I doubt if the development of GTA 6 was a cost-driven development. In fact, I'm 100% sure it wasn't. I think the philosophy might be very similar in many ways."

CD Projekt Red has a lot to prove with its next big RPG. Even as Cyberpunk 2077's reputation has turned around thanks to a nonstop barrage of updates and improvements, the shadow of its very bad launch still lingers. But even Cyberpunk's untimely release was more of a result of dev burnout than financial pressure.

"The decision to launch was for sure wrong, period," Nowakowski admits. "There’s no denying it. But there's no easy answer, like some magical 'investors' or stuff like that. I read a lot of that on the internet, [that investors were] telling us 'you have to release now or else.' That was not the situation. It was much more complicated – much more psychological, I would even say."

The Witcher 4 probably isn't coming to PS5 with a physical disc, CD Projekt Red boss says, but fans will still get something to "open up and enjoy."

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 director Daniel Vávra is no stranger to controversy, having previously defended Nvidia's controversial DLSS 5 technology – and now, it seems that he's back to do so yet again.

In case you missed the Warhorse Studios veteran's previous words on the matter, he stated that tech like DLSS 5 would "replace expensive raytracing" someday and was just suffering an "uncanny beginning."

Well, now that Nvidia's AI-powered neural rendering model is back in the limelight, Vávra has more to say – and it's evident he's still very much on the side of the tech rather than against it, as many players appear to be.

In fact, the Kingdom Come: Deliverance lead says "some people have literally gone crazy" over DLSS 5 on X, showcasing a comparison of models within his own game before and after the tech has been applied.

"On the left is a head messed up by the game engine's very limited lighting system, which can't properly render shadows, skin texture, and the detail of normal maps," writes Vávra. On the right? An improvement, apparently.

That's thanks to "better lighting, shadows, skin texture, hair, and therefore DETAILS, which is thanks to… you guessed it, "neural network rendering in DLSS 5."

Obviously, not everyone agrees with him here, and the comments make as much clear – but Vávra doubles down on his take in a separate thread. Explaining how "the whole AI situation is really funny" to him, he argues that most devs use the tech.

"A very vocal group of people hates it, and absolutely every developer is terrified that they'll come after them, so they all swear up and down that they definitely don't use any AI," Vávra writes.

"The reality? Of course that EVERYONE uses it! Every one! Absolutely every developer across many companies that I've spoken with over the past year uses AI. Programmers can’t get anything done without it anymore."

He goes on to say that "most developers" are even manufacturing their own in-house AI tools "for just about everything," from models to art to screenwriting to… well, you name it.

And, to top that all off, he adds, "You know who uses it the most? Usually the most talented people I know. They are the ones who are least afraid and who see its huge potential." While I'm not sure I personally agree with that, it's clear that AI is growing in popularity.

Whether that's a good thing is a hot-button topic, as Vávra's posts make clear, but one thing's for certain: he strongly believes in the tech himself.

He says it makes game dev more accessible, too, as "no one wants to work on a game for a decade," and AI can help cut that time. Will the product truly be the same quality or carry the same human touch it'd boast with no AI use, though?

Well, I'll leave that up to you.

Proving Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's authenticity, Warhorse's biggest fan hikes through Czechia "by foot" to make 3D maps of the RPG's historical locations

Despite releasing after Sony's physical game deadline, CD Projekt Red says The Witcher 4 will have a game box with something on PS5, even if it doesn't have a disc.

I'm sure we all know the story by now: Sony announced it would end physical disc production for PlayStation consoles in 2028, and everyone is upset and calling Sony out for its anti-consumer, anti-preservation moves. Meanwhile, Sony wants to remind people they don't own their games, with its lawyers offering the frankly ridiculous argument that no one thinks they own a digital game, because only one person could ever have it. While some devs – like Hideo Kojima – have publicly expressed concern, there's been word that many publishers are quietly unhappy with the decision.

This was then followed by the news that The Witcher 4 will release in 2028 if all goes to plan, and many put two and two together and concluded that this would put the massive RPG in the digital-only realm on PlayStation.

Speaking to The Game Business, CD Projekt Red joint-CEO Michał Nowakowski explains that the decision is out of its hands: "We know what PlayStation has announced. And we have no influence on the policies of the first parties. The discs for the first parties, including PlayStation, have to be manufactured in their own factories. So, if they stop manufacturing indeed by 2028, then yes [we won't have a disc]."

However, even if The Witcher 4 does not have a disc, Nowakowski pledges there will be something for physical-game fans. "We're big fans of people having access to tangible collectible things," he explains, "So, whatever is the case, we're going to be for sure having a box. We're going to have a box that's going to have some feelies in it. Something you're going to be wanting to open up and enjoy. But we have no influence actually on what's the case here."

CD Projekt Red is also one of the few third-party publishers that released a Nintendo Switch 2 game on an actual cartridge rather than a Game-Key Card, with Cyberpunk 2077 being the only launch game outside of Nintendo's own to be complete on the cart. And while it's currently digital-only, the studio has confirmed details of The Witcher 3 Remastered's Switch 2 physical edition are coming "when the time is right."

The Witcher 4 narrative lead also wanted Geralt as the protagonist at first, but he "will always have an important role"

Last week's Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 showcase saw the reveal of The Witcher 3 Remastered, a reworked take on CD Projekt Red's original 2015 RPG – and excited fans don't need to worry about losing their decade-old progress, apparently.

Developers reveal as much in a new post over on X, explaining that all of our saves from The Witcher 3 will, in fact, carry over to the remaster coming later this month.

"We've seen your questions about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered," it reads. "Good news: your current saves will work with the upgrade, so you can get back on the Path right where you left off."

Good news indeed, especially for those of us with hundreds of hours clocked in-game.

That's not all, either. Apparently, all of our unlocked achievements (or trophies, for all you PlayStation 5 enjoyers) will still be unlocked in The Witcher 3 Remastered – no need to spend ages grinding Gwent cards and the like again.

As CD Projekt Red says, "Your unlocked achievements and trophies will carry over too!" I'm thrilled, personally, and I'm evidently not alone, with folks commenting that this is "great to hear."

Some people, however, do wish they could redo it all – because of course they do. As various other replies highlight, a lot of fans want to "100%" The Witcher 3 once more… which makes sense, I suppose, when you consider just how good the original RPG is.

As grueling a task completing everything again might be, I can see why players would want to. Heck, I have nearly 1,000 hours in the game on PC alone myself.

Regarding what The Witcher 3 Remastered brings to the table that we've not yet seen, there's everything from "improved combat" to overhauled visuals to look forward to.

There's also CD Projekt Red's new DLC for the RPG, Songs of the Past, and, of course, The Witcher 4, to anticipate. It's a better time than ever to be a fan of the Polish studio's lineup of games, I'd say – I know I certainly am, and I can't wait for it all to release.

After avoiding game-key cards with Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red says The Witcher 3 Remastered's Switch 2 physical edition details will come "when the time is right"

The Blood of Dawnwalker, the new vampiric RPG from The Witcher 3 director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz and the team at Rebel Wolves, is finally releasing this week, and early reviews paint a bloody, but overall very positive, picture.

I've been following Blood of Dawnwalker very closely since its announcement and, having spoken with the devs myself and read countless encouraging hands-on previews, I'm not surprised to see it's a hit with critics now that the full review embargo has lifted. As of now, it has a mightily impressive 83 score on Metacritic, which puts it just behind beloved RPGs like The Witcher 1 and 2.

For reference, The Witcher 3 still holds a sizeable lead on all of those games with a 92 Metascore, but it's really not fair to compare any RPG to CD Projekt Red's magnum opus.

While the overall reception to Blood of Dawnwalker is positive, several high-profile outlets with lower than average reviews are noteworthy. The GamesRadar+ Blood of Dawnwalker review is one such example, giving the game 3/5 stars and noting its "odd pacing" and "repetitive" quests while praising its combat and worldbuilding.

"The Blood of Dawnwalker is a freeform vampiric RPG that does everything possible to make its unusual time-based questing feel frictionless, resulting in an adventure that's not as interesting as it feels like it should be," reads our review. "Even vampiric abilities are defanged with little in the way of moral choices. More interesting for its folkloric world, this is an historic adventure that constantly stops me from getting immersed, though I'll always love sucking blood."

Likewise, Game Rant's 6/10 review is highly complimentary of the RPG's world and story, but critical of the level of jank and, echoing our review, the repetition of activities. That repetition critique is prevalent in Game Informer's 7/10 review, which also takes off points for uneven mechanics, including the game's central "time as a resource" clock system.

Again, the broader picture is a lot more positive. Vice awarded the game a perfect 10/10 review and called it "one of the best RPGs since The Witcher 3," while IGN's 9/10 review described it as the reviewer's "new favorite vampire game and one of the best story-driven RPGs I’ve played in a long time." Destructoid agreed, giving the game a 9.5/10 review and boldly calling it "the perfect game in almost every conceivable way." GameSpot gave the game an 8/10 and lauded its "great writing" and "compelling" combat while noting technical issues and lack of distinction between vampire and human form.

Honestly, the fact that critics are somewhat split, but still largely in agreement that Blood of Dawnwalker is a quality RPG, makes me even more interested in Rebel Wolves' debut release. Although universal acclaim rarely steers me wrong, it also raises my expectations to a level that can rarely be satisfied, whereas a healthy mix of reviews to me suggests a boldness that inevitably doesn't work for everyone. All that said, there seems to be a consensus forming that Rebel Wolves built a compelling dark fantasy world with rich characters and a story that does the CDPR name justice, but perhaps with some jank and repetition that hold it back from being an instant classic.

The Blood of Dawnwalker releases September 3 for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

Blood of Dawnwalker dev says you can beat the final boss right after the prologue, but it "will be a feat worthy of legends."

Xbox has confirmed that Fable's main story will be around 15 to 20 hours long, exactly in keeping with the first three entries in the venerable RPG series. You can double that playtime with sidequests and exploration, and the real devotees can play "forever" if they want to treat the game as a life sim.

"We have around 15-20 hours of mainline quest gameplay, we have around 15-20 of side and open-world exploration content gameplay," associate game director Will Kennedy says at a Gamescom Q&A session, via Polygon. "And then, of course, the life systems are limitless, so you can play them for as long as you want."

"You can literally play it forever if that's what you want to do," fellow associate game director Craig Littler adds.

Personally, that sounds like the perfect length for an RPG to me – but I recognize I have a professional incentive to squeeze in as many games as I can manage. For players who invest in a small handful of games per year, the rise of RPGs like The Witcher 3, Baldur's Gate 3, and Elden Ring – whose playtimes can only be measured along astronomical scales – has fundamentally shifted expectations.

Still, the original Fable games are beloved for a reason, and part of that reason is the fact that they're breezy role-playing experiences that don't overstay their welcome. All three existing mainline Fable games are listed at around 15 hours to complete the main story on HowLongToBeat, with that time extending to 25 hours or more depending on how many side quests you want to do.

Regardless, the fact that Playground Games is confident enough in the new Fable's life simulation aspects to cite them as a reason to keep playing forever is certainly encouraging. The game promises a big, dynamic open world with loads of opportunities to get up to sandbox shenanigans, and that can go a long way toward making an RPG feel like more than the sum of its main story quests.

Fable’s combat shows a lot of promise, but I'm glad it's not launching this year.

What made the original Fallout RPG so great wasn't just its dark humor or apocalyptic setting or branching choices, according to co-creator Tim Cain. What made Fallout great was actually how it was made.

Part of the team responsible for the original Fallout - and now part of Obsidian Entertainment, a studio working on an all-new Fallout game - Tim Cain recently spoke about an aspect of the series' creation that often goes "overlooked" by many developers and fans alike nowadays.

In a new vlog posted to his YouTube channel, Cain brings up something called the Abilene paradox, which refers to how a group of people might refuse to push back on a bad idea because they're afraid to rock the boat. Maybe you're too shy to say you don't want to eat at a restaurant you know is crappy, just because everyone else seems excited about it.

"That happens all the time in video game development," Cain says, but instead of submitting to a crappy restaurant, developers might go along with a not-so-great feature for a game. "Too many people think that discussion is argument, and discussion is not argument."

The famed game dev mentions how he's worked with people who want to be told what to do, rather than having deep discussions. "If you treat discussion as argument then ideas will never be questioned much less really tested," he explains. "And, so, your game will go out with a bunch of things that somebody thought should go in. No one ever pushed back on it. Nobody ever implemented it, tested it, and went, 'No, that's not very good. We should change that.'" He's also seen the same pattern in publishers and fans in online forums, too.

"So, this gets back to why I think Fallout was a great game," he goes on. "Fallout was great because we pushed each other during development and we pushed each other pretty hard. We asked ourselves difficult questions about what we were doing. Should that creature look like that? Should that character talk like that? Should that map be that size? We questioned ideas. We would discuss them. We would defend them. And we would offer better ones... This is something that's kind of overlooked, I think, in development now."

There aren't yet many details available about Obsidian's Fallout game, but it's reportedly being directed by New Vegas lead Josh Sawyer. Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas remasters might not be enough to fill the wait to Fallout 5, however.

Fallout 4 fans let out as a sigh of relief as Bethesda quadruples the RPG's mod limit without breaking everything in new update

The Witcher 4's narrative lead Philipp Weber understands why some fans are having trouble letting go of Geralt in the spotlight. He, too, didn't want the iconic monster hunter to take a back seat in the upcoming game, but it's alright, because Geralt will apparently "always have an important role."

A loud contingent of fans upset that Ciri is taking over as the protagonist of The Witcher 4 have been making their displeasure very vocal online. Once a quest designer on The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, Weber's now responded to one such fan.

"I understand that many people feel like this," he tweets in reply to a player calling for Geralt to take Ciri's place as The Witcher 4's lead. Weber even says he "felt like that at the start," so it's CD Projekt Red's "job to prove with W4 that Ciri will be a worthy main character for the game. We take that task very seriously!" And even if his gruff growl isn't front and centre the entire time, "Geralt will always have an important role."

Ciri's role as protagonist has been a hot debate ever since the upcoming CD Projekt Red game's first proper reveal. Engineering production manager Jan Hermanowicz previously told GamesRadar+ that fans should reserve their judgement for after they've actually played the sequel. "When the game will be out, you'll be able to see for yourself and fully embrace her character, her story," he said last year.

The Witcher 4 won't be ready until 2028, the developer recently clarified, but fans will have plenty to sink both their swords into until then. The Witcher 3 Remastered is coming out next month, and it's free for all existing owners, which should be a good appetizer for the Songs of the Past expansion launching next year.

"After all this time, we get to show you more of Songs of the Past, a story long in the making," Weber said of the long-awaited DLC. "Geralt's adventure in Letten contains so much of our and especially our good friends at Fool's Theory's love for the Witcher. And for all our original fans, that chain is for you!!!"

The Witcher 3 Remastered sees CD Projekt Red work with one of the RPG's most beloved modders to make his work "officially available in the game"

The Elder Scrolls 6 is in development at Bethesda Game Studios, a studio under Xbox's corporate umbrella, but that doesn't automatically mean it'll be an Xbox console exclusive. Xbox's approach and messaging around exclusivity has been inconsistent, but in the months following Asha Sharma's appointment as CEO, the company has been explicit about wanting a return to Xbox exclusives following a period of multiplatform embrace under the leadership of former CEO Phil Spencer. And yet, it remains a mystery whether games like The Elder Scrolls 6, which began development long before Bethesda was acquired by Xbox and are beloved world-over, will be exclusive to Xbox consoles.

At Gamescom 2026, the BBC (via GameSpot) had the chance to ask Sharma about Xbox's approach to exclusivity in general, and you won't be surprised to hear she didn't give the most direct answer.

"We are increasingly going to be one of the largest platforms in the world. Every platform needs some form of exclusive experiences and content," Sharma said. "And so, what we've shared is Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork [Revolution will be exclusive on console to Xbox]. We're going to do the best we can to continue to do that, all in context of the business being healthy, and so we have to balance that."

Pressed on the issue of The Elder Scrolls 6's potential Xbox exclusivity specifically, Sharma simply smiled and said, "it's a beautiful game."

Bethesda and Xbox have been remarkably cagey about The Elder Scrolls 6 for a game that was announced more than eight years ago. The extremely limited teaser we saw all the way back in 2018 remains the only official showcase we've seen, and after months of silence, Sharma herself said she'd experienced a "live playthrough" of the game and praised its "scale and grandeur" and its "even better" story.

At the time, Sharma's visit to Bethesda HQ was met with protestors speaking out against the ongoing layoffs that will ultimately see 3,200 workers lose their jobs under Sharma's leadership.

Onto the real news: The Elder Scrolls 6 will keep Skyrim's famous cheese physics