I’ve never understood Star Wars names. On one hand, you’ve got perfectly normal blokes with names like Luke or Ben, and then someone will stroll on up and deadpan introduce themselves as “Dash Rendar” or “Wedge Antilles”. It’s enough to have you wondering where they come up with these names. In the case of one Star Wars: Squadrons pilot, at least, there’s a good chance the name came from the mind of a comedy writer’s 20-month-old kid.

(more…)

Rootin’ tootin’ corporate space western The Outer Worlds reckons it’s time to recruit some new interstellar cowboys. After a year of blasting its way around The Epic Games system, Obsidian’s Fallout-lite sci-fi romp is preparing to mosey on into Steam’s parlour in just under two weeks.

After all, what better place for a tale of unchecked capitalism run amok than Valve’s brutally competitive storefront?

(more…)

Listen. With Sega basically becoming an RTS publishing giant, Sonic The Hedgehog is retroactively a PC gaming mascot. Sorry, them’s the rules. To help you get on board with our sassy, spikey new overlord, 1992’s Sonic The Hedgehog 2 – the best one – is free to keep forever on Steam if you pick it up before October 19th.

(more…)

Procedural village-builder Townscaper was already a delight. A wonderfully tactile little tool for popping together quaint wee archipelagos with a look you could easily slap on a postcard. It’s frankly rude, then, that developer Oskar Stålberg has gone and made it even prettier in a new update, letting you move the sun itself to paint your perfect little seaside getaway.

(more…)

Indivisible

is as finished as it’ll ever be. There may have been plans to add a number of crossover and crowdfunded characters to the turn-based-but-not RPG, but the implosion of developers Lab Zero has put one hell of a wrench in the works. This week, publishers 505 Games clarified the situation regarding future Indivisible updates, and regret to inform that there’ll be no further work done on the game.

(more…)

So long, Crucible. Amazon’s free-to-play shooter hasn’t had the easiest ride, greeted by a release so underwhelming developers Relentless Studios chose to take it back to the shop for a bit of a tune-up. Three months later, the devs have decided that Crucible may just be beyond salvaging. Development on the beleaguered shooter has ceased, with servers set to shut off over the next few weeks.

(more…)

It’s trite but: autumn really has come out of nowhere. A fortnight ago, I walked through a forested glen with a pal and saw barely any non-green leaves, let alone fallen ones. This week, I walked along the local river and kicked through deep drifts of yellow leaves. Seasons.

What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’re clicking on!

(more…)

Yup, that’s right. You spent 45 minutes in Baldur’s Gate 3‘s character creator looking at drow and tieflings, considering horns and tails and beards, oh my. Then you said “oh, to hell with it” and made a human Cleric with your own skin and eye color whose face is just a little more attractive than yours. That’s how you’re going to venture forth, is it? Steve Plainface is going to save Baldur’s Gate from mind flayers and date Shadowheart, is he? Yup, he sure will.

(more…)

Neat news in the world of Rogue-likers, Rogue itself is getting a Steam release later this month. That’s right, no flashy graphics here. Just good ol’ text characters as the Dungeons of Doom were meant to be experienced. It will be available on October 20th.

(more…)

We’re in the thick of spooky season right now, but not to worry there’s plenty left to come even after October ends. Bloober Team of Layers Of Fear fame is summoning up The Medium this year. Their dual-world psychological horror game is launching on December 10th.

(more…)