I don’t know what the longest-running early access game in history has been (perhaps Project Zomboid?) but I know that zombie survival game 7 Days To Die is definitely up there. We first reported its appearance back in the dark ages of 2013. For context, that was the year Grand Theft Auto V came out. Whoa! Okay, calm down, sorry, I didn’t mean to panic you. Yes, the arrow of time is inviolable. We are all marching steadily towards our graves, I know. But at least now 7 Days To Die has finally released its fully baked version 1.0.

The 1.0 release comes out today and brings “more optimizations, polish, quality-of-life improvements, new content, new features, and new gameplay systems than ever before,” say developers The Fun Pimps, who must surely be tired.

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Their summary is also putting it somewhat mildly. The full patch notes are enormous. The world generation has been beefed up, making it faster and, theoretically, resulting in more interesting worlds. A bunch of new “points of interest” will now appear, including new theatres, high schools and hotels. There are new zombie variants (though I think this is mostly a cosmetic thing, for example, a new type of nurse zombie and a “bowling alley” zombie). There are new animal and vehicle models, lighting has been overhauled, a “new and improved Dismemberment Gore System” will make things bloody in some fresh ways, and there are now various “challenges” to act as tutorials for new players (replacing an old system of quests). There’s a bunch more stuff besides this that I cannot face communicating to you, lest it add another decade to the clock.

Even after all that, the developers say they’re not done working on the game. A roadmap for future updates includes hints of a weather system, an overhaul of traders, new bandits, and a story mode. All that is set to take them up to the end of 2025, they say.

I last played the horde-blasting starvation sim ten years ago, following its first shambling onto the scene. I liked it back then, enjoying the lonely log cabin defending and simple nightly defenses of my new home (then getting absolutely destroyed by a much bigger swarm). I’ll be diving back in to let you know how it holds up after all this time. It’s possible a decade of half-hearted survival games has blunted the edge of my enjoyment of the genre. But I do like digging pits for zombies to fall into. Check back for fuller thoughts sometime next week.

AppMagic, a service used to determine the market for mobile apps and games, has raised $3 million in a new round of seed funding.

The bulk of it ($2.5 million) comes from Gem Capital, a Cyprus-based company that’s previously aided developers like Mundfish and Sad Cat Studios. With the funding, AppMagic plans to build out staff for international territories.

Per the press release, that expansion will involve dedicated teams recognizing the “specific sales approaches” for the US, China, Korea, and Japan.

Gem managing director Kirill Guskiy explained the firm was impressed with AppMagic growing into “the third-largest mobile marketing intelligence tool” by client numbers. The funding was also spurred by fellow analyst tool Data.ai being acquired by Sensor Tower in March.

“The recent deal opens a window of opportunity for AppMagic to capitalize on its strengths,” said Gusky. “We are excited to support [founder] Max Samorukov and his team in this promising venture.”

Samorukov himself later said the funding would help his company “improve our global presence” and “accelerate our product development, adding new types of data and increasing its accuracy.”

It also has the added bonus of building AppMagic’s profile as a viable Data.ai alternative. The latter’s merger with Sensor Tower has seemingly put AppMagic in a position to become a “viable and superior option” for mobile app analytics.

Likely as a conspiracy to make me use the word boner in two different articles on the same day, campy horror shooter Shadows Of The Damned: Hella Remastered has received a release date – this Halloween, 31st October 2024. This spiffier version of the 2011 console game was announced earlier this year. Aside from a few costumes and NG+, it’s basically the original package you know and – if you’re one of the fifteen people that bought the original – love.

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“A hot-blooded, hellishly twisted, feverishly filthy, love and hate filled road trip,” is how the game’s Steam page describes it. “Join the crass Garcia Hotspur and his boney buddy, Johnson, as they traverse the depths of the Underworld to steal back Garcia’s kidnapped lover, Paula, from the clutches of Fleming, the Lord of the Underworld. Let the soul of rock ‘n’ roll run loose in the heart of the twisted hellscape that is the Underworld.” The page does not feature any quotes of Garcia referring to his gun as “My Big Boner,” but this does happen sometimes.

Shadows Of The Damned was a collaboration between Suda 51’s Grasshopper Manufacture and Resident Evil’s Shinji Mikami. Famously, there was reportedly a bit of tension during development between the studio and publisher EA. Suda cleared up some details in a recent interview with GhenryPerez on YouTube, going into a few elements he wishes he’d manage to retain – including a gun with a tiny version of the character Paula inside, who would communicate with the player. Suda was forbidden to keep this in the game, being told “You guys don’t understand… Americans hate little girls!”

In the process of googling a fact for this piece, I turned up this old EA press page thing from 2011 that describes the game as “a mind-shattering adventure that has to been seen to be believed,” in the way only something written about a videogame in 2011 could.

Back in March, the credits for Shadows Of The Damned: Hella Remastered revealed that Shinji Mikami had started a new studio, a year after leaving the (now shuttered) Tango Gameworks – who Edwin argued deserved to be remembered for far more than just Mikami’s contribution.

Boner.

Intel have identified the fault behind reported stability issues with their 13th and 14th Gen Core CPUs, many of which have been failing after feeding themselves excessive voltages. The blame, Intel told PCG, lies with the same kind of pernicious force that fills your Twitter feed with pillocks, has turned Google into an AI-sodden shell of its former self, and keeps making Spotify suggest I listen to ninety different electroswing arrangements of Everybody Wants to Be a Cat. That’s right: an algorithm.

Specifically, it’s a faulty microcode algorithm, microcode essentially being a kind of CPU firmware. PCG quoted an Intel spokesperson that “Based on extensive analysis of Intel Core 13th/14th Gen desktop processors returned to us due to instability issues, we have determined that elevated operating voltage is causing instability issues in some 13th/14th Gen desktop processors. Our analysis of returned processors confirms that the elevated operating voltage is stemming from a microcode algorithm resulting in incorrect voltage requests to the processor.”

The good news is that an apparent fix is on the way, as microcode is fairly easy to patch. The bad news is that Intel reckon this won’t be ready until mid-August at the earliest. It’s also too late for the Core chips that have already bit the silicone dust, which have mainly been higher-tier models like the Core i9-14900K and Core i9-13900K.

Unusually for a widespread technical oopsie like this one, word has been spread not just by disgruntled home users and tech media, but members of the games industry as well: Alderon Games, developers of dinosaur sim Path of Titans, shared a post on their website attacking Intel for selling defective processors. The post cited “thousands of crashes on Intel CPUs”, gathered via Path of Titans’ crash reporting tools, and announced that Alderon would migrate their entire server setup to AMD hardware “to prevent further harm to our game.”

Not that the makers of a dino survival MMO are necessarily the ultimate moral arbiters, but when an entire development studio is blogging about how knackered your hardware is, it’s likely past time to take action. Fingers crossed the algorithm really is to blame (they usually are), and that the microcode patch is ready in good time.

I keep seeing those adverts for that Ray-Ban and Meta collaboration, where like, they’re smart glasses that let you browse the web with your eyes? Anyway, yeah, they don’t appeal to me at all. Not as much as “Dateviator” glasses, which come courtesy of Sassy Chap Games and their upcoming dating sim Date Everything! As the title suggests: you date everything, from kitchen sponges to lampshades, as they morph into absolute fitties once you’ve donned the special specs. It looks incredibly dumb but in the best possible way.

In what’s been coined as a “sandbox” dating simulator, the game sees you explore a home from a first-person perspective and don the Dateviator glasses to chat up everyday objects. We’re talking hoovers, cabinets, toasters, fridges – pop those glasses on and anything becomes 10/10 shaggable. While there’s not much info on exactly why or how or who or what is going on, the devs do say there’s a “critical path tying it all together”, with all dateable objects having three “relationship resolutions”: Love, Friend, or Hate. Imagine leaning in for a kiss with a nail clipper and getting pied. Unthinkable.

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There are other tidbits of info, like there being 100 fully voiced dateable characters (things?) all voiced by strong voice actors from all sorts of games like Final Fantasy XV, Persona 5, HiFi Rush and more. Not to mention that the game will cater for a “wide array of player preferences and tastes”, so everyone can get involved in… whatever this game is.

It has got me thinking, though. What household object in my home would I date? My coaster? My laptop sleeve? Truthfully, I think it would be my Sonic The Hedgehog lamp that isn’t actually of the character Sonic, but just the words “Sonic The Hedgehog”. Dear reader, what household object would you date? I am sure I won’t regret asking you such a thing.

There isn’t a release date yet, but you can follow the game over on Steam if you’re curious.

A new report from Windows Central (spotted by VGC) claims Microsoft is preparing to introduce even more wrinkles to Xbox Game Pass.

Ahead of an additional plan and price hike for all tiers in September, it’s now claimed a cloud-only subscription is being explored. It’s expected to be cheaper and “more approachable” than Game Pass Ultimate, but a specific price range wasn’t listed.

This plan is allegedly aimed more toward non-Xbox owners, and potentially even players on other consoles. This one might also let players stream titles they already own via Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Windows Central further stated the Game Pass Family plan may return. It was tested in various territories in 2022 before it was scrapped, and allowed five people to share a subscription for $25/month.

Finally, the outlet claimed to have heard Microsoft was exploring an ad-supported tier, but wasn’t actively committed to it.

Xbox Game Pass is still being played with, for better or worse

Microsoft has been trying whatever it can to bring in new Game Pass subscribers in recent years. Mainly, this has taken the form of touting big games like Starfield as day one gets, with the newest being Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

This upcoming price hike comes just over a year after monthly prices for Game Pass Ultimate and the console plans saw a slight increase. At the time, the developer said the prices were spurred by a need to “match local market conditions.”

In response to September’s hike, the FTC decried the subscription service as a “degraded product.” With a new Standard tier that eschews day one launches for first-party games, the regulator accused it of enacting “consumer harm.”

Additional actions, such as laying off 1,900 people earlier this year and shutting down several Bethesda subsidiaries, are proof of Microsoft “exercising market power post-merger.”

Microsoft recently hit back at the FTC, calling those claims “misleading” and done to get back at its failed injunction (and lawsuit) to stop last year’s Activision Blizzard acquisition.

The regulator has “no evidence anywhere of harm to competition” from the merger, said Microsoft. “[Our] transaction thus continues to benefit competition and consumers–exactly what the district court correctly found.”

Windows Central’s full report on Game Pass’ potential future plans can be read here.

Chaotic poker-themed roguelike deckbuilder Balatro quickly captured hearts and frazzled minds when it released earlier this year. However, nowhere in Katharine’s (RPS in peace) review does it address the one eternal issue: can it run Doom?

Yes, according to reddit user UwUDev, who shared their prototype for how the seminal FPS could be played within the confines of a comedy poker game. The answer, apparently, is to just turn a big pile of Joker cards into portions of a video screen. A simple solution, though one that quickly caught the approving attention of Balatro dev LocalThunk.

Thus spake UwUDev: “It’s super laggy and I often have big lag spikes but it works. I’ll see later if I can optimize it because it’s really unplayable x)”. Wait, if the creator says it’s unplayable then can we truly say Doom is running? Is this a ‘minimum 30fps or jog on’ situation or do we lower our standards considering someone got it working on a jailbroken tractor?

After some initial umming, I think I’d fall into the “lower our standards” camp – surely Doom does not need to actually be comfortable to play for official Can It Run Doom certification, as long as it merely runs. But then this Balatro mod stretches the definition of “runs” as it so heavily manipulates and reshapes the game’s systems that it arguably no longer even resembles the original; at least the tractor screen was intended as a screen. I don’t think Balatro cards were ever meant to be vessels of video output, even if it is fun how shuffling them around also moves the corresponding window of Doom footage.

Then, of course, you get into arguments over whether the wacky device needs to simply display Doom, or to handle the actual processing for it, and honestly at this point I think the fun just stops. Maybe this post should as well, so just go look at the It Runs Doom! Tumblr.

Update (7/23/24): In a statement provided to Game Developer, Humble said its game publishing label is “undergoing restructuring” rather than fully shutting down. This restructure “involved much deliberation and careful thought, with the goal of ensuring the stability and support of our developers and ongoing projects.”

“We are acutely aware of the profound impact this decision has on our team members at Humble Games and deeply empathize with everyone affected. Our team’s contributions have been world-class and invaluable, supporting the launch of our games since we started publishing in 2017.”

Ongoing and future projects are said to be unaffected, and the restructure has “no impact” on Humble Bundle’s operations. It affirmed that it was “committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for everyone involved.”

Original story: The IGN-owned Humble Games was reportedly closed down this morning, and its 36-person staff was laid off entirely.

The publishing offshoot of the popular platform was cut, and seemingly without any prior warning. At time of writing, Humble itself has yet to comment on the matter.

Humble Games began in 2017 with titles like A Hat in Time and Aegis Defenders under its belt. Over the years, it’s gone to publish critical and commercial darlings like Slay the Spire, Unpacking, and Signalis.

Just last week, it’d published Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus from developer Squid Shock Studios.

“Like most of Humble Games today, I was notified that we were being laid off this morning,” wrote producer Kenny Schwarz. “As much of a bummer as it is to be in this position, I still appreciate that it’s been an amazing experience to work with so many wonderful and talented people!”

“Today is mine and my entire team’s last day at Humble Games,” added senior QA Emilee Kiefer. While mourning its end, she criticized the “volatile” industry and “people who only want exponential growth at the expense of making great games with great teams.”

“Billionaires and CEOs are making record profits at the expense of the employees who actually create the products,” she continued. “I believe we have the power to create studios that benefit us as game developers and not people that only see us as money printing machines.”

Last November, Humble laid off an unspecified number of staff from its publishing arm as part of a company restructure. Two years earlier, it had cut jobs in its engineering and customer service departments.

At time of writing, it’s unclear what will remain of games that Humble Games was set to publish, such as Monaco II and Breeze in the Clouds.

Ubisoft Milan creative director Davide Soliani is departing the studio after 25 years.

Soliani has worked on a litany of titles over the year, but is best known for overseeing development of the Mario+Rabbids franchise as creative director. Prior to that, he worked on other franchises such as Beyond Good & Evil, Rayman, Rainbow Six, Just Dance, and Tomb Raider.

In a short post on X, Soliani said he was leaving Ubsoft to “embark on a new adventure.”

“Hi all folks. After 25 years, 11 of which beautifully spent working with Nintendo on Mario+Rabbids along the company of our incredible community of players, I have decided to leave Ubisoft to embark on a new adventure,” he wrote. “I can’t say more now. Thanks a lot for everything, truly.”

Ubisoft paid tribute to Soliani in a reply. “Thank you so much for all your incredible work Davide. It’s our turn to cry this time,” said the company. “Best wishes for the worlds you’ll journey through next.”

Mario+Rabbids sparks joy

Mario+Rabbids established itself as a bona fide franchise after debuting in 2017—following a famous E3 reveal that saw Soliani shed a tear when Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto hopped on stage for the announcement.

The latest entry in the series, Mario+Rabbids Sparks of Hope has reportedly sold 3 million copies, but Ubisoft seemingly expected more from the sequel out of the gate.

Shortly after it launched in October 2022, Ubisoft indicated the title had underperformed and perhaps should have been held back for the Switch’s inevitable successor.

During an interview last year, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said in an ideal world the company would release “one [franchise] iteration on each machine,” and claimed Sparks of Hope debuted “a bit too early.”

Hindsight is 20/20, but with Nintendo yet to unveil its next console—which is rumored to launch next year—Ubisoft would have been waiting for some time.

Update: Oh, hey. It’s out now.

Fallout: London, the massive fan-made Fallout 4 mod set in Poundland Prime (No Elephants, Some Castles, Canary Wharfare) has finally got a release date. Happy days, it’s actually today, Thursday 25th July. The news comes from Inverse, who’ve sent their dear alsatian companions sniffing around the mod’s Discord. Yesterday, Team FOLON lead Dean Carter shared the song I Just Can’t Wait (For Tomorrow) then, when sniffed at harder, confirmed that the ‘Tomorrow’ part meant tomorrow (as in, today), “Unless nuclear war happens.”

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Fallout: London is, of course, the massive total conversion mod for the RPG set in dear ol’ blighttown. Uh, blighty. It’s from a team of around 50 developers, and over 200 contributors, which is wild and humbling and, gosh, we don’t deserve modders. Activities include shooting antique rifles, dressing like a bobby, and milking mutant cows. There’s even a bulldog, named Churchill, that you can recruit as a companion. It’s a wildly ambitious and impressive project, featuring a load of quests, plus original voice acting from the likes of Neil Newbon (from Baldur’s Gate 3), and former UK Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow (not from Baldur’s Gate 3, iirc.)

Originally set to release back in April after five years in development, Fallout: London was delayed indefinitely thanks to a chaotic ‘next-gen’ update that broke a lot of mods and generally made people quite unhappy. It is, of course, oh-so-easy to adopt the misinformed stance that that big bad Bethesda clumsily got in the way of people trying to make their game interesting. So, anyway: Bethesda messed everything up for the people trying to make their game interesting, and the team had to delay things so they didn’t break.

More recently, Team Folon sent a build to GOG for testing, and it turned out that they still couldn’t get London and the next-gen update to play nice together. As such, players will need to downgrade their copies of Fallout 4 to run the mod. No hassle – London will ship with a custom installer that also does the downgrading for you.

“GOG have been amazing through all of this. To be honest, we’ve been the ones causing them the issue,” Carter told the Discord, via VG247. “What with us having things break due to the next-gen [update] and then needing the 3rd parties to update, then waiting for them to be fixed, only for the fact that at the 11th hour we’ve discovered that the next-gen [version of Fallout 4], even after updates, isn’t stable enough and thus we are now going out on the old version – [hence] the need for a downgrader.”

Anyways, that’s all in the past now, and Fallout: London looks to be playable and set to arrive just in time for the weekend. You can find the mod on GOG here. Oh, and if you missed the other good Bethesda news, Bestheda Game Studios announced a ‘wall-to-wall’ union this week.