Valve and Sony's new hero shooters show the highs and lows of live service games, as Deadlock courts 64,000 players and Concord fails to reach 700 on Steam - games news - NewsLocker (2024)

This weekend two new shooters show off the best and worst of what company's can expect from launching live service games."New shooters" might be a little inaccurate since Valve's Deadlock has been in not-so-secret playtesting for months now - images, videos, details, character lineups, and more were leaked weeks in advance as literally tens of thousands of players signed up to the pre-release tests - though the company waited until this weekend to officially announce the MOBA and hero shooter ma

After 6 years living as a monk and a total of 19 years away, MMO player returns to Old School RuneScape and proves the classic phrase: you don't quit, you take breaks

"I'm reading Bhagavad-gītā whilst playing Old School RuneScape," says the aptly named Old School Monk, casually launching into hours of verses from the Hindu scriptures core to Hare Krishna teachings.This may be the most extreme example I've ever seen of a tried-and-true MMO motto, which burns bright in OSRS: you don't quit, you only take long breaks. Old School Monk, or Ben Xi in-game, put OSRS down for 19 years, spent six of those years "living as a Hare Krishna monk" in Wales amid a

I've never seen a survival game like this mountain climbing sim from the developers of Furi, one of my favorite boss rush games of all time

Furi and Haven developer The Game Bakers has always been hard to pin down, and the reveal of "survival-climber" Cairn, a game about climbing a mountain using rationed supplies and realistic animations and physics, has only made that harder. It's the third game in a loosely defined trilogy with the theme of freedom, and it looks unlike any survival game I've played.In an interview with GamesRadar+, executive producer and designer Audrey Leprince, along with creative content director and designer

Almost 100 years after Tolkien introduced him, Tom Bombadil actor Rory Kinnear shares why the character’s time has finally come in The Rings of Power season 2

Tom Bombadil’s introduction to the screen has been a long time coming for fans of The Lord of the Rings. First introduced by J.R.R. Tolkien in the 1930s, the character didn’t make the cut in Peter Jackson’s movies.Since then, it’s been a point of concern that we might never see the unique character in live-action. Thankfully, The Rings of Power solves this in its second season, casting James Bond actor Rory Kinnear as Tolkien’s delightfully mysterious characte

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Randy Pitchford wasn't the only one teasing Borderlands 4, because another Gearbox developer basically spoiled the reveal trailer 2 years ago

Randy Pitchford wasn't the only person to tease Borderlands 4 - that honor also goes to a Borderlands 3 and Tiny Tina's Wonderlands writer who hinted at the reveal trailer two years ago.The Borderlands 4 reveal trailer shows, among other things, a heavenly body appearing in an alien sky, smashing through some kind of barrier as it goes. Eagle-eyed fans think that planet is actually a moon, Elpis, on which the events of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel took place. That, in turn, has turned up some pre

The Rings of Power season 2’s Sauron and Galadriel reunion will have "incredibly high stakes"

The Rings of Power season 2 begins this week, and sees Sauron begin a new chapter following Galadriel’s rejection at the end of season one. This sets the two central characters on different paths when the fantasy epic returns, with Galadriel trying to redeem herself and Sauron attempting to build up his power.However, as anyone who has seen the final trailer for the new season will know, we’re building up to an epic reunion. In a small moment at the end of the clip, the pair meet aga

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 release schedule – When is episode 1 on Amazon Prime Video?

The Rings of Power season 2 takes us back to Middle-earth this week as Amazon Prime Video's epic fantasy series returns. This time around, Sauron takes center stage after being unmasked as Halbrand at the end of season 1. Brought low by Galadriel's rejection, the second season begins as the Dark Lord tries to rebuild his power with the help of a new disguise – and the manipulation of a certain Elven smith...It's been two years since we last saw this cast of characters on our screens in arg

Dishonored creator's Fallout: New Vegas-inspired immersive sim prefers stylized art to ultra-realism that ages fast – "Back then it was probably stunning, now you can't even look at it"

The new game from Dishonored and Prey director Raphael Colantonio probably won't be opting for ultra-realistic graphics, because stylization looks better in the long term and takes way less time.Speaking to GamesRadar+ after the reveal of his new project - a Fallout: New Vegas-inspired RPG/immersive sim hybrid - Raphael Colantonio, co-founder of Arkane Studios as well as more recent venture WolfEye Studios, said he wasn't daunted by making a game like this, despite a smaller team. "It's more tha

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The Rings of Power Galadriel actor thinks she and Sauron share a psychic link: "There is some sort of cosmic connection"

The Rings of Power star Morfydd Clark says she agrees with Sauron actor Charlie Vickers’ theory that Galadriel and the Dark Lord are connected by their psyche, which could put her in terrible danger in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2."I'd agree with him, I think there is," Clark tells GamesRadar+ of Vickers’ psychic connection theory. "They're both magical, powerful beings, and I think there is something lonely to existing in that kind of sphere that they both are

Galadriel and Adar actors tease their unlikely alliance in The Rings of Power season 2: "I think it's sort of a needs must thing"

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 is looming and in the recent action-packed trailer we got to see an unlikely team-up between two very different characters, Galadriel and Adar, an alliance that stars Morfydd Clark and Sam Hazeldine say is a "needs must" to defeat Sauron."I think it's sort of a needs must thing," new Adar actor Hazeldine tells GamesRadar+. "We end season one as enemies and so it's like we have to think of something to do to combat the power of Sauron becau

Silent Hill 2 remakers didn't start with the OG Silent Hill because "the franchise is connected to Konami's plans"

Bloober Team, the studio currently remaking horror classic Silent Hill 2 in fancy fashion, has explained why it didn't start with the first game in the series.In an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, creative director Mateusz Lenart explained that he reckons the sequel "just matches our DNA better" because "it's much more emotional, a much more personal story than, for example, the first game or the third game."According to Lenart, Bloober Team have apparently always been "fans of telling person

After 22 years, the one and only game Sega developed for PS1 finally has an English translation, and it's a gateway to the '00s world of J-pop idols and Hamtaro anime

A 2002 Sega-developed PS1 obscurity released only in Japan has just gotten an English translation two decades later, and more than anything it serves as the gateway to an incredible selection of trivia about turn-of-the-century Japanese pop culture.That game is Mini-Moni. Shakatto Tambourine! da Pyon!, and as the one English word in the title implies, this is a rhythm game that optionally allows you to play using a custom tambourine controller. The track list is largely dominated by the work of

This dark fantasy RPG "inspired by classic Pokemon" games is giving off Darkest Dungeon and Slay the Spire vibes

Voidsayer walks in classic Pokemon's footsteps in the sense that it's a turn-based game that wants you to "catch 'em all" - the "'em" referring to the world's strange and sometimes cute creatures - but there's a whole dark fantasy twist attached this time.Voidsayer's Steam page calls it a "dark and captivating 2D RPG-strategy, inspired by classic Pokemon-style gameplay" where you choose between three starter monsters - a baby dragon, what I assume is an overgrown cat, and a sad, eldritch o

Activision reportedly canceled a Crash Bandicoot 5 that also starred Spyro because it wanted more live-service games

A new report claims that Activision greenlit and canceled a single-player Crash Bandicoot 5 while it continued to chase more live-service games.YouTuber and gaming historian Liam Robertson (Did You Know Gaming?) just released a new video report investigating what happened behind-the-scenes at developer Toys For Bob, where he alleges that a Crash Bandicoot 5 was in the early stages of development, but was soon scrapped based on what Activision considered to be underwhelming sales for Crash Bandic

Stellar Blade and Phantom Blade Zero studios shout out Black Myth Wukong's global success as it helps to "unite diverse cultures"

Both of the studios behind Stellar Blade and Phantom Blade Zero have shouted out the growing global launch of Black Myth: Wukong as it helps open the door for more action games developed in Asia to find global success.Black Myth: Wukong was always going to be a gargantuan hit since it's based on one of the most recognizable legends in history - Journey to the West - and China, where the game was developed, has grown into the world's biggest gaming population, though massive breakout successes in

Diablo's hack 'n' slash action meets cozy Stardew Valley town-building in this co-op game threatening all my free time

Grinding different characters to maximize one thwack's deadliness is already enough of a time sink in games like Diablo. Add in Stardew Valley's moreish, bitesized tasks and town-building, and you have a recipe that could threaten global productivity levels - which is exactly what Lynked: Banner of the Spark is doing.Announced on stage during Gamescom Opening Night Live, Linked: Banner of the Spark is the debut game from developer Fuzzybot, and it's basically a mash-up of almost every trending g

Brutal Mickey Mouse-ish FPS that's riding the public domain all the way to Steam has both a real name and awesome new trailer

You might remember Mouse: P.I. For Hire as the drop-dead gorgeous shooter that went viral across TikTok before going viral everywhere else on the internet. Some people called it a Cuphead meets Call of Duty Frankenstein. Some people hailed it as the Steamboat Willie shooter we never knew we needed. But now it has a real name, and a brand new, very cool trailer.Developer Fumi Games announced that their 1930s cartoon-inspired shooter is officially called Mouse: P.I. For Fire (previously just Mouse

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 evolves World War Z's swarm tech to build "epic battles" with "maybe thousands of Tyrannids"

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is upping the amount of on-screen chaos by building off of technology used for the World War Z game.Before starting work on Space Marine 2, developer Saber Interactive pumped more zombies than I've ever seen on screen in its co-op World War Z shooter that had players mowing down hundreds of brainless foes who would literally topple over each other and come at you in waves.In a Gamescom interview with Gamesradar+, Saber Interactive CCO Tim Willits explains t

Valve finally lifts the lid on Deadlock its 'Overwatch meets Dota' hero shooter that's already got 30,000 concurrent players

Valve has finally lifted the lid on Deadlock, the studio's 6v6 hero shooter MOBA hybrid that's been an open secret for months.The brief teaser trailer Valve revealed on its newly published Deadlock storefront gives little to nothing away, showing a large, shifty looking character standing in front of a supply store. At some point, three characters sneak past an alleyway in the far distance, and that's about it. However, the Steam page's genre tags confirm Deadlock is indeed an online third-perso

Monster Hunter Wilds was "the big winner" at this year's Gamescom 2024 Awards, with Supermassive's Little Nightmares 3 following close behind

Monster Hunter Wilds and Little Nightmares 3 took home the most prizes at the Gamescom 2024 Awards.In a press release from the Gamescom Awards desk, it's revealed that Monster Hunter Wilds was the overall winner of the show, bagging the top prizes for Most Epic and Most Entertaining, as well as the Best PlayStation Game and Best Trailer.Little Nightmares 3, the first entry in the horror series to be developed by Until Dawn studio Supermassive, notched wins for Best Visuals, Best Audio, and

Greedfall 2 boss says Baldur's Gate 3's breakout success "allowed us" to do early access

Greedfall 2 is scheduled to launch in one month, and in a first for cult RPG studio Spiders, it's initially arriving in early access form. The devs have wanted to do early access for years, but it took the immense success of the early access graduate Baldur's Gate 3 to convince publisher Nacon to give it a shot."It was [Baldur's Gate 3] that allowed us to convince Nacon to do an early access for Greedfall 2," Spiders CEO Jehanne Rousseau told GamesRadar+ during a Gamescom interview. "I was askin

Stalker 2 dev says "the game is huge," takes 100 hours to fully beat, and was built entirely "by hand"

Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a big ol' game with a huge map and a story that'll take around 100 hours to fully explore, and even so, it was essentially built entirely by hand.GamesRadar+ had the chance to sit down with Stalker 2 technical producer Yevhenii Kulyk at Gamescom 2024, and we were told "it was quite a challenging task" making a map that isn't just expansive, but also memorable."Of course you can make a big map, but it should still, first of all, be playable, beautiful, and you as

Silent Hill 2 veteran says the survival horror classic would have featured David Lynch-inspired multiple protagonists if it didn't make the story "too complicated"

The devs behind Silent Hill have made no secret of how much David Lynch's filmography has influenced the series, but one veteran of the team has only recently revealed that one particular movie's influence could have made Silent Hill 2 a much different game."Some accounts have asked me if David Lynch's films were the references for Silent Hill 2," veteran Team Silent art director Masahiro Ito says on Twitter. "Yes, of course, some of them were. When we were building the outline of the story, the

Cozy open-world game headed by Breath of the Wild dev already has over 12 million pre-registered players, and you'd better believe I'm one of them

Following the debut of its new trailer at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2024, Infinity Nikki has stolen the hearts of many cozy gamers - over 12,000,000, to be precise.Headed by former Breath of the Wild dev Kentaro Tominaga, Infinity Nikki is Infold Games' follow-up to a mind-bogglingly successful series of mobile dress-up games spanning over 12 years. I've spent enough time (and money) myself playing Love Nikki on my phone, so I'm stoked to see the game of my girly childhood dreams coming to fru

Nintendo's technical wizardry explained - Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom avoids load times by predicting when you're about to dive into The Depths

For a world stretched across floating islands in the clouds, lush fields and valleys on the surface, and an equally expansive dungeon hidden just beneath, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's map loads the three tiers with shocking speed - and it's all because Nintendo developers were able to predict when Link might dive down into The Depths.During Japan's Computer Entertainment Development Conference, director Hidemaro Fujibayashi and engineer Kenichi Hirosetook a deep dive i

Diablo 4 leads know you want a sword-and-board Paladin, but after 5 classic classes they wanted to go big on something new: "It's not just about rehashing old content"

Diablo 4's leads know you want a sword and shield-based class, but they're really happy with the feedback to Vessel of Hatred's new Spiritborn class.If you didn't already know, the new Diablo 4 DLC releasing later this year in October is introducing the Spiritborn, which will be the action RPG's sixth class. Since Diablo 4 launched last year, though, there have been legions of fans asking Blizzard to make a class using a sword and shield. In other words, your archetypical 'Paladin' character.Gam

I didn't realize how many exclusives the Crunchyroll Store has, and it's blown my mind a little

Did you know that Crunchyroll has a store? And that it's got a bunch of exclusive statues, box sets, and manga collections to go on your shelf? I didn't. Sure, one of the biggest anime streaming services having its own merch store isn't a surprise. But what I didn't anticipate was how well stocked it was. I mean, damn - there are hundreds of plushies, clothes, pieces of decor, lights, and more filling up these digital aisles.In terms of those exclusives (which you can check out here), the Crunch

Space Marine 2 lead says Doom 2016 was a big inspiration, just as the original Doom inspired Space Marine 1 which in turn inspired Doom 2016: "It's a grand circle of coolness"

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is nearly here, 13 years and one massive leak later. According to chief creative officer Tim Willits of developer Saber Interactive, previously studio director at Doom house id Software, the upcoming sequel was looking directly at the modern Doom for reference on some key details, and he reckons the two series have traded notes multiple times over the years.Speaking with GamesRadar+ at Gamescom, Willits argues "one of the things that a lot of gamers, I believe, d

Black Myth: Wukong is "one of the fastest-selling games of all time," beating Elden Ring and Hogwarts Legacy with 10 million copies sold in just 4 days

Just four days after launch, Black Myth: Wukong has already sold over 10 million copies, topping the early sales records of other recent hits like Elden Ring and Hogwarts Legacy."Black Myth: Wukong has sold 10 million copies across all platforms," as developer Game Science has announced on Twitter. That number is current as of the morning of August 23, four days after the game's release date. The studio also reports that the game reached a high of 3 million concurrent players across all platform

This creative inZOI fan is using the hyper-realistic life sim to recreate some of The Sims 4's most iconic characters

The upcoming ultra-realistic life sim inZOI has had fans hooked for a few days with its playable character creation demo - and someone is using it to recreate iconic characters from The Sims 4.inZOI, the new Sims-like gem with stunning Unreal Engine 5 visuals from PUBG developer Krafton, is impressing stans worldwide with its Character Studio - a more in-depth version of Create-A-Sim, which already has life sim fans forgetting about The Sims 4. Everyone's been sharing their impressive creations