Free-to-play defend-o-shooter Orcs Must Die! Unchained and both games in Robot Entertainment’s turn-based Hero Academy series are set to close their doors this April. In an apologetic letter to players, CEO Patrick Hudson explains that the games simply cost more to run than they make back in return. The studio itself doesn’t seem to be in immediate danger, with Robot currently working on two new games that they plan to unveil later this year. Account registration for the games should end soon, but the last few Unchained players will find themselves with a sack of currency to spend over these final three months.

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Jingle jingle, it’s the RPS podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show. This week we discuss the ongoing Steam summer sale and bare our respective piles of shame. Editor-at-arms Graham also joins us to talk about spelunking roguelike Caveblazers, while Pip takes on the free-to-play Orcs Must Die! Unchained and Brendan marches on with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

But wait! There’s also an interview with the creators of “roguevania” Dead Cells, and we take some questions from listeners too. But most importantly, we introduce some extra jingles from our music man, Jack. Come and listen, educate yourself.

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Orcs Must Die! Unchained [official site] has launched a huge update taking the tower defense closer to its roots. The unpopular PvP mode is gone, for starters, which devs Robot Entertainment say is so they can “fully focus on bringing back the classic Orcs Must Die gameplay that players thought was missing in OMD!U”. Smashing! I enjoyed the earlier games, with their mix of building wacky traps and roaming around on foot fighting monsters myself, but didn’t dig what Unchained was up to. … [visit site to read more]