HoYoverse's next gacha game has shades of Teamfight Tactics and Pokémon. The developer describes Honkai: Nexus Anima as a "creature-collector adventure strategy game." HoYoverse first teased the title in May at the Honkai: Star Rail Con

This Samsung internal SSD is a trusted and reliable option. The post Forget Crucial or WD, This Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB SSD Costs Peanuts on Amazon appeared first on Kotaku.

Peak, the social co-op game from developers Aggro Crab and Landfall, has sold nearly 10 million copies since its release in June, according to numbers from Alinea Analytics. It's remained one of the top-played games on Valve's Steam platform since its release, reaching a peak concurrent player count of 170,759 in mid-August. Peak is immensely popular—and its playerbase keeps growing. Hitting that 10 million milestone would make Peak the second "budget indie," as Alinea Analytics called it, to reach that point—the first was another social co-op game: R.E.P.O. These two titles follow an emergence of social-driven co-op games that have largely been made by independent studios with lower budgets—the likes of Landfall's 2024 Content Warning, horror survival game Lethal Company, multiplayer fishing game Webfishing, and even InnerSloth's social deduction mega-hit Among Us. Social games are nothing new: Multiplayer is a core element of plenty of video games; games like Fortnite, Minecraft, and Call of Duty are often vehicles for chatting with a group of friends. Peak, R.E.P.O, and the like, though are something different.The core appeal of "weirdo social games"Aggro Crab art director Galen Drew told Game Developer that "weirdo social games" like Peak have existed for some time, pointing back to games like Among Us and Lethal Company. There are games you can play with your friends, but these games are ones that are designed around "the experience of hanging out with your friends," Drew said. "It's the expressiveness in the way the characters move and look, and the types of things you can do. It's all just a vehicle to make your friends laugh."Related:Players clearly want that: The top three new games on Steam, by copies sold, are R.E.P.O, social co-op drug dealing game Schedule I, and Peak, according to Alinea Analytics. The firm's estimates suggest that co-op games on Steam brought in $4.1 billion in revenue in the first half of 2025; "the highest six-month total ever recorded for the genre," according to analyst Rhys Elliot. Michael Chu, CEO and co-founder of Treehouse Games, which is making co-op, seafaring survival game Voyagers of Nera, told Game Developer that "there are more great options for co-op games than ever, so the competition feels intense as a developer."He continued: "But a bigger and more diverse audience of players [is] looking to gaming as their favorite way to hang out every year."With that in mind, it makes sense that developers would start to really hone in on that experience—and purpose-build games that give players powerful moments with friends.Related:What to make of "Friendslop"A new term has emerged to describe the growing genre that Peak, Lethal Company, and R.E.P.O find themselves in: "Friendslop." Friendslop was used first in a joke: A Twitter user posted three pictures from Lethal Company, Content Warning, and R.E.P.O and called the genre friendslop. "Its sole purpose of existence is friendfarming," they said. The term—or, maybe, a desire to dunk on it on social media—caught on. Depending on who you talk to, it's used in jest, is insulting to games it's used to refer to, or it's something to embrace. What is uncontested, though, is the demand for games that are built for socialization, experimentation, and silliness with one's buddies."The core of a friendslop game is where the fun of the game comes from stupid stuff you and your friends do, and a lot of it is driven by the mistakes you make," Drew said of Peak. "It's a game where you're all dumb idiots trying to do something difficult and complicated, and failing is the funny part."Aggro Crab and Landfall used the friendslop format but stripped away the horror game roots to make Peak, Drew said. Horror is a good fit for the genre because it adds an inherent pressure that ends up being slapstick comedy. There's a performance element to it, too, Drew said. "Horror is an easy pressure to put on those kinds of challenges, because it's just easy to get people flustered and freaking out and making a mistake that's funny," he said. "In the case of Content Warning, that's a great mechanic, because filming is a good incentive to even, like, perform the funny."Related:For Peak, the collaboration between the Content Warning and Another Crab's Treasure makers, the developers wanted to capture a similar feeling but about surviving with friends. There's no horror element to up the ante; instead, the antagonist is the climb—not any sort of looming monster. The mountains themselves are there to lure the player into taking risks and making mistakes, Drew said. "Almost every item we add is meant to be tempting to use in a way that's dumb," he said. "Generally, we don't add items that are strictly useful—there are a few, obviously, like the piton or rope. But almost all of them have this built in failure point. You still have to place the piton, and it takes time, and you could fall while you're doing it. The rope, you still have to spool out a certain length, and you don't really have a great idea of how much you're spooling out. They're all intentionally chosen so that your friends are yelling at you because you didn't spool out enough rope when they climb."A tonal change for the genreChu told Game Developer that Voyagers of Nera, which is slated for early access in mid-September, will deliver similar sorts of moments. Voyagers of Nera, however, doesn't necessarily fit under the "genre" of friendslop, despite its similarities in goal—to create moments for friends."We built the game to deliver memorable moments with friends (what Peak and Content Warning thrive on), but our game focuses on a different flavor. We wanted to create moments of shared discovery as players explore far off locations together, rescue magical spirits, and battle deep sea monsters. We think there's something romantic and familiar about starting out at the horizon on the ocean and wondering, ‘What's out there?'"Voyagers of Nera isn't necessarily built upon the performance and humor of a game like Peak or Content Warning, but still hinges on gameplay that encourages socialization. Peak and other games more firmly situated in the friendslop world seemingly rely more on sessions than an ongoing experience; Peak's maps rotate every 24 hours, something that Drew said was a technical constraint rather than an intentional decision. But it's a constraint that Drew said plays into the excitement of playing Peak: People want to see and try the different maps. The rotations become like Destiny raids, he said. There's some fear of missing out on some unique experience, but it's not so exclusive that it drives people away—there's always another day. "It will feel like a special thing every time you [play]," Drew added.Voyagers of Nera, on the other hand, is a shared world that lives on a server and up to 10 people per session can come back to it, like Palworld or Rust. Regardless of the differences, though, the core of the experience remains: "Games have become a default way to spend quality time with friends," Chu said. And games that are built to support these relationships are more popular than ever.

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Hardware Flashback - (00:00) Dinosaur Pie - (30:42) Guinness Gaming Records - (2:04:59) Machinae Supremacy: Death From Above - (2:06:20) Phill Boag-Butcher Interview - (2:10:24) Top Ten Post Apocalypse Games - (3:20:13) Gaming Trivi

Welcome back to another edition of Patch Notes, here on my second (and final) sub-in for its usual author, senior news editor Chris Kerr. This week, we had more layoff news, unfortunately, this time hitting studios like Embracer-owned Crystal Dynamics and Rec Room. Crystal Dynamics, in particular, is suffering its third round of layoffs since being snatched up by Embracer in 2022.Elsewhere, we have some news on Switch 2 development kits, union efforts for many folks working on the Diablo franchise, Atari snatched up a couple of interesting older Ubisoft properties, and we ponder the creative core of  weirdo indie social games.Report: Nintendo reportedly withholds Switch 2 dev kits, directs devs toward OG Switch development insteadVia Game Developer/Digital Foundry // Freshly returned from Gamescom, Digital Foundry senior staff writer and video editor John Linneman spoke with "a lot of developers" that said they're unable to get Switch 2 development kits. The demand is there: plenty of teams want to be crafting games for the Switch 2, but they are reportedly being told to ship for the original Switch and rely on the new console's backward compatibility features.Atari Acquires Ubisoft IP, Including Child of Eden, Grow Home, Cold FearRelated:Via This Week in Video Games // Atari snatched up a number of intriguing Ubisoft properties this week, including the how-on-earth-was-this-a-whole-decade-ago climber Grow Home and its sequel Grow Up, Child of Eden, Cold Fear, and I am Alive. In the post, Atari VP of new business Deborah Papiernik said “Atari has a rich gaming legacy and deep appreciation for these classic titles... We’re excited to see how they’ll evolve and connect with players in fresh, meaningful ways.”Embracer studio Crystal Dynamics is laying off more staffVia Game Developer // As noted above, news of yet another round of layoffs at Tomb Raider studio Crystal Dynamics came in hot this week. Game Developer contributing news editor Diego Arguello writes "This is the third round of layoffs since Embracer Group acquired the studio in 2022. As Embracer issued an absurd number of mass layoffs, project cancellations, and divestments across its portfolio, Crystal Dynamics conducted job cuts in 2023 and early this year.450 Diablo developers vote to unionize under CWAVia  Game Developer // Senior editor Bryant Francis covered the news today with one of my favorite opening lines in Game Developer news history: "The forces of hell are unionizing. Today the Communication Workers of America has announced that over 450 game developers at Blizzard Entertainment who work on the Diablo series have voted to unionize under the CWA."Related:What developers can learn from the indie social co-op games topping the Steam chartsVia Game Developer // In this interview piece from news columnist Nicole Carpenter, the core appeal and breakout success of "weirdo social games" (or, if you please, "friendslop") is examined in great detail by some of the folks working in the genre today.

August 28, 2025 Powered by authenticity and community feedback, EA SPORTS FC 26 delivers the world’s game like never before — The Club is Yours. PRE-ORDER EA SPORTS FC 26 TODAY REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) confirmed a series of new and exclusive multi-year partnerships and in-game integrations for EA SPORTS FC™ 26, delivering 20,000+ athletes across 750+ clubs and national teams, 120+ stadiums, and 35+ leagues — powered by over 300+ global football partners. Spanning both men’s and women’s football, highlights include a new marketing partnership with the English FA, featuring a renewed license with the reigning UEFA Women's EURO 2025 champions and the men’s national team, as well as a new partnership with one of the world’s most iconic clubs, FC Bayern.Allianz Arena in EA SPORTS FC 26“Everything we’ve added to FC 26 has been shaped by the voices of our community,” said James Taylor, Director of Football Partnerships at EA SPORTS FC. “From the return of iconic stadiums and clubs fans have called for, to expanding representation in women’s football at the highest level — every new addition reflects our commitment to authenticity and to celebrating the incredible diversity of the world’s game.”EA SPORTS FC 26 is powered by authenticity and shaped by the voices of the community with several iconic stadiums being called for, including the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona giving Neapolitans and fans around the world a long-awaited addition. Also joining the lineup are two more fan favourites: Allianz Arena, home of FC Bayern, and Tüpraş Stadyumu, the stadium of Beşiktaş.Michael Diederich, Executive Vice Chairman of FC Bayern said: "Passion, commitment and emotion are the hallmarks of football, both on the pitch and in the virtual world - and the gaming community is growing with every move. We at FC Bayern are all excited to share these attributes with our new partner EA SPORTS FC. Together, we want to further expand our interaction with the next generation of football fans: on the pitch and on the game console."These updates reflect EA SPORTS FC’s ongoing commitment to elevating both men’s and women’s football. Renewed licensing agreements include the Barclays Women’s Super League, Arkema Première Ligue, UEFA Women’s Champions League, and UEFA Women’s EURO — alongside continued partnerships with top clubs such as OL Lyonnes. New additions, including Chelsea Women and FC Bayern Women, further strengthen EA SPORTS FC’s global representation of elite women’s football.“The power of EA SPORTS FC and its utopian world of football has brought the BWSL, our clubs and our players to a whole new audience” said Zarah Al Kudcy, Chief Revenue Officer. “Our league and our clubs are already one of the most played in women’s football within the game and we are excited to keep building together."Other leagues and club partnership and license renewals include Atletico Madrid, River Plate, Racing Club, Scottish Premier League, and Belgian Pro League, among others.Additional new stadiums in FC 26 include the brand-new Hill Dickinson Stadium (Everton), Holstein-Stadion (Holstein Kiel), Stade de la Beaujoire (FC Nantes), Son Moix Stadium (RCD Mallorca), Red Bull Arena (RB Salzburg), Wankdorf Stadium (BSC Young Boys), St. Jakob Park (FC Basel), as well as others.Pre-orders are now available for EA SPORTS FC 26, which will launch on PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, Amazon Luna, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2. EA SPORTS FC 26 will be available worldwide to play on September 26, 2025, with early access through the Ultimate Edition beginning September 19, 2025*.EA Play** members, the Club is Yours in EA SPORTS FC™ 26 with the EA Play 10-hour early access trial, starting September 19, 2025. Members also score member rewards including seasonal Ultimate Team™ Draft Tokens and club rewards, as well as receive 10% off EA digital content including pre-orders, game downloads, FC Points, and DLC. For more information on EA Play please visit ea.com/ea-play.For more information on EA SPORTS FC 26, please visit ea.com/fc26 and ensure you’re following our global social channels for all the latest upcoming news and announcements for EA SPORTS FC.*Conditions and restrictions apply. Offers may not be available on all platforms and/or all territories. See ea.com/games/ea-sports-fc/fc-26/game-disclaimers for details.**Conditions, limitations and exclusions apply. See EA Play Terms for details.About Electronic ArtsElectronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) is a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. The Company develops and delivers games, content and online services for Internet-connected consoles, mobile devices and personal computers.In fiscal year 2025, EA posted GAAP net revenue of approximately $7.5 billion. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA is recognized for a portfolio of critically acclaimed, high-quality brands such as EA SPORTS FC™, Battlefield™, Apex Legends™, The Sims™, EA SPORTS™ Madden NFL, EA SPORTS™ College Football, Need for Speed™, Dragon Age™, Titanfall™, Plants vs. Zombies™ and EA SPORTS F1®. More information about EA is available at www.ea.com/news.EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS FC, Battlefield, Need for Speed, Apex Legends, The Sims, Dragon Age, Titanfall, and Plants vs. Zombies are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. John Madden, NFL, and F1 are the property of their respective owners and used with permission.Category: EA Sports EA SPORTS FC Newsroom [email protected] Source: Electronic Arts Inc. Multimedia Files: