What appears to be a knock-off version of the immensely popular Black Myth: Wukong has appeared on the Nintendo online store and is due to launch December 26.Wukong Sun: Black Legend, is a 2D platformer that strongly resembles Black Myth: Wukong, at least in terms of its story description and the art used to advertise the game.Wukong Sun: Black Legend is being developed and published by Global Game Studio. Its description on the Nintendo store reads: “Embark on an epic Journey to the West in Wukong Sun: Black Legend! Ssports bettingtep into the role of the immortal Wukong, the legendary Monkey King, as he battles through a chaotic world teeming with powerful monsters and untold dangers. Explore a story inspired by Chinese mythology, filled with action-packed battles, stunning environments, and legendary foes.”This obviously sounds incredibly similar to Black Myth: Wukong, but the story is a very popular one from Chinese literature. A criminally underrated game came out back in 2010 called Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, developed by Ninja Theory, and follows a man named Monkey as he gets his companion Tripitaka back to her home throu…

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The best co-op games offer up all kinds of adventures you can experience with friends or family. At the very least, they’ll support two players and let you dive into a variety of differensports bettingt worlds and stories. No matter what kind of genre you enjoy, there are plenty of co-op games out there for you, from the best FPS games to games like Palworld.With some of the best PC games offering up multiplayer options to Nintendo classics that encourage teamwork with pals, we’ve brought together a selection of the best co-op games you can play right now across all platforms. From recent releases to long-standing favorites, there’s no shortage of options to try out and explore. And happily, there are plenty more yet to come, with new games for 2025 set to bring us more co-op goodness like Split Fiction.Read on below as we take you through our pick of the 25 best co-op games you can together right now.Recent updatesThis list of the best co op games was updated on December 23, 2024, ensuring that all the titles listed offer the best team player experiences on offer right now.25. Unboxing the Cryptic Killer Co-op style: OnlineP…

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Death Stranding 2 director Hideo Kojima took a momentary break from posting photos of Fragile actress Léa Seydoux on Twitter to instead post a photo of himself looking impossibly locked in while working on Death Stranding 2. “Building the game,” Kojima said on Twitter over a set of photos showing him staring at a blank desktop screen with an inscrutable look on his face and a mysterious pair of black sunglasses. He’s holding an Astro Bot PS5 controller sports betting– a gift, I think, based on the holiday card lying on the desk in front of him – up near his chin, hunching a little like a turtle. He rests his hands on the edges of the W-shaped controller, as if he’s an intelligent alien who beamed down to earth just to check out the PS5 Pro, but is too shy to do it in front of you. That’s where the sunglasses come in.In one of Kojima’s photos, there’s also a stack of unopened Lego sets and a giant, traffic cone yellow Lego bag looking slightly crinkled and neglected.”I see Kojima is a Lego fan, too!” one fan replies encouragingly. But Kojima is too focused on the purity of his male living space for…

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Valve has revealed Steam’s most-played and best-selling games of the year, and when you narrow it down to new releases of 2024, Marvel Rivals is one of them despite just launching earlier this month.Steam’s ‘Best of 2024’ page breaks down the platform’s “top games measured by gross revenue,” and the winners aren’t entirely surprising. In the top-tier ‘Platinum’ group we have Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at number one, followed by Counter Strike 2, Dota 2, Palworld, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, Helldivers 2, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, Baldur’s Gate 3, and PUBG.Talking about games released in 2024 specifically, Marvel Rivals is in that same Platinum category in terms of most-played games. Ranked by gross revenue it doesn’t quite make the Platinum tier, but it is just below it in Gold alongside big-hitters like Hades 2, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and Tekken 8.Of course, Marvel Rivals has the benefit of being based on one of the biggest IP of all time, but its success is still notable particularly in the wake of similarly budgeted live-service flops like Concord, xDefiant, and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.We already knew Marvel Rivals had a suc…

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I’ve not dipped my toe into the Persona games, but many of my friends and colleagues love them. According to Atlus developer Kazuhisa Wada, that’s a key and very intentional part of how the company makes the series.Wada recently spoke at the CEDEC+KYUSHU developer conference in Japan (reported by Game Makers with translation provided by Automaton) about how the company’s design philosophy has changed since making Persona 3 in 2006. Before Persona 3, Atlus’ values were coined as “Only One,” by Wada. It basically meant, “if they like it, they like it, if they don’t, they don’t.” Rather than making games with broad appeal that don’t do much of anything so as not to potentially put anyone off, the Persona series does what it does very well: stylish action, dungeon crawling, and deep relationship development. When I write it like that, I convince myself I should play.In some of the games even elements like time and the weather can affect fights and the story itself. It all sounds cool, and I appreciate it from afar, but for some reason they’ve just never clicked with me. Based on the company’s past values, that’s just fine. The games have done well by cultivating a dedi…

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"The most visually impressive way to play games on PlayStation." That's how Sony is pitching the PlayStation 5 Pro, a mid-cycle upgrade that will cost a staggering $700 and as evidenced during a tonally odd technical presentation, will largely enable owners to gawp at upscaled versions of titles like The Last of Us Part II Remastered, Gran Turismo 7, and Horizon Forbidden West.It's been a few days since the console was unveiled by PlayStation lead architect Mark Cerny, who was given less than 10 minutes to convince consumers to part ways with an eye-watering wad of cash. After spending a good chunk of that time explaining why the base PlayStation 5 is still rather brilliant (see, there's no need to be jealous if you can't afford the upgrade), Cerny waxed lyrical about the Pro's prestige features.A turbocharged CPU with 45 percent faster rendering for FPS-drenched gameplay. Advanced ray tracing that apparently makes reflections and refractions look bloody marvelous. AI-driven upscaling that sharpens images by adding detail you wouldn't believe. Appealing? That depends on your disposition. Rampant technophiles who crave the best of the best won…

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Embracer has concluded the financial portion of its Saber Interactive divestment and confirmed that 4A Games and Zen Studios haven't been included in the deal.The Swedish conglomerate sold notable Saber Interactive assets—including studios like 3D Realms, Slippage, and New World Interactive—to Beacon Interactive earlier this year. Beacon is controlled by Saber co-founder Matthew Karch.In total, Beacon chose to purchase a myriad of assets including multiple studios, 38 ongoing game projects, proprietary engine technology, and numerous game tools. The company also had the option to acquire Metro developer 4A Games and Pinball FX creator Zen Studios as part of the transaction, but has decided not to pursue those deals.Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors said he is "satisfied" with how the divestment shook out and "very glad to see the great teams and assets of 4A Games and Zen Studios remain within Embracer."

4A Games and Zen Studios have big plays for Embracer

"They will be important building blocks in …

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Scopely is shifting teams around internally following the cancellation of an unannounced project, prompting some developers within the company to express uncertainty about their role or future.Rumors of changes at the Monopoly Go creator started earlier this week when senior creative director Steve Garvin mentioned that his "cool new game got cancelled," and that he was looking for work.In a statement to Game Developer, a Scopely spokesperson indicated no staff had been laid off at time of writing, and said it intends to move impacted developers to other teams within the studio.

Scopely's statement on the cancellation and affected workers

"We have a robust in-development slate which includes incubation and prototype projects," said Scopely, "and we regularly assess where to focus the efforts of our talented [staff]."Its statement acknowledged the cancellation of an unannounced project, and that it's "begun transitioning the team affected to other parts of the business.&…

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Update (9/16/24): Following the Absurd Ventures announcement, Robbins explained that Ascendant will be "going quiet" as Absurd Marin starts on its new project."I'm thrilled to bring our team's experience and expertise to a new game and exciting new company," he wrote.While his statement is vague on Ascendant's future, Robbins said he felt "incredibly lucky" to lead his first studio and release Immortals of Aveum. "To anyone who supported Ascendant and the game," he continued, "I can't thank you enough.""Now we move forward into our next chapter. […] It's been an amazing ride, and now the ride continues!"Original story: Dan Houser's Absurd Ventures has launched its first spinoff studio.Based in San Rafael, California, the Absurd Marin team is comprised of several former staffers from Ascendant Studios, creators of 2023's Immortals of Aveum. Fittingly, that includes former Ascendant CEO Bret Robbins.Per Houser, the new studio is working on a story-based original title. This project is based on a third, unannounced Absurd property, and marks Absurd's second game alongside one based on…

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Starbreeze is giving Payday 3 a regime change ahead of its one-year anniversary. The studio recently announced game director Miodrag Kovačević will no longer lead its live-service crime game.According to Starbreeze, Kovačević will "step away from his role…and refocus his efforts as a designer elsewhere in the project."While the studio looks for someone to take on long-term director duties, Payday 3's "creative force" will be temporarily steered by lead producer Andreas Penninger and global brand director Almir Listo.As Listo noted, he and Penninger have been at Starbreeze for 12 years and worked on Payday 2. Discussing the future, Listo said he was "thrilled about the upcoming content we are preparing for you all!"

The tumultuous, ongoing Payday 3 saga

Payday 3 debuted in September last year but has struggled to make headway. The multiplayer shooter faced server issues at launch but still opened to 1.3 million overall players.Months later, Starbreeze said the game had massively underperformed. The situation result…

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