After toiling away for years on high-concept arcade titles like Resogun and Nex Machina, developer Housemarque announced that it was turning over a new leaf. Called Stormdivers, it’s an attempt at an Unreal-powered battle royale game. Stormdivers is a third-person shooter that Housemarque has been toying with for more than three years. The game will have a near-future, high-tech theme that emphasizes a powerful suit that players will wear into battle. Stormdivers will initially launch into early

There’s a release date now locked down for Shenmue 3: Aug. 27, 2019. That’s more than a year away from now, of course, and nearly two full years after director Yu Suzuki first expected to launch the game. Publisher Deep Silver dropped a trailer alongside the release date reveal during Gamescom 2018, which opened to press today. Suzuki, who now heads up development studio Ys Net, opened Shenmue 3 up for crowdfunding during E3 2015. Shenmue 3 is expected to launch on PlayStation 4 and Windows PC.

Bandai Namco has picked up the next project from Supermassive Games, best known for the PlayStation 4 horror-adventure game Until Dawn. Called The Dark Pictures Anthology, the series will include a number of individual games, each with a shared goal in mind: scare the hell out of players. First up from The Dark Pictures, which is out in 2019 for PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One, is a story called Man of Medan. All four characters’ lives are at stake as well, according to Supermassive Games

After Nintendo revealed a handful of new characters all at once during the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Nintendo Direct presentation earlier this month, we weren’t sure if we’d have to wait until December to actually see them in action. Nintendo’s Japanese YouTube account now has footage of several of these fighters, however — most notably King K. Rool, the fan-favorite Donkey Kong Country villain. Two different gameplay videos are up on the channel, and we recommend at least watching the match be

Microsoft will livestream a “very special episode” of its Inside Xbox show today from Gamescom 2018, the annual gaming expo held in Cologne, Germany. The Inside Xbox Gamescom presentation kicks off at 10:30 a.m. EDT/4:30 p.m. Central European Summer Time. You can watch today’s episode of Inside Xbox on a variety of Microsoft’s channels, including xbox.com, Mixer, Twitch, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Photos of a rumored successor to the Xbox Elite wireless controller leaked back in January. The

Prices for Nvidia-manufactured “Founders Edition” versions of its latest graphics cards are $599 for the RTX 2070, $799 for the RTX 2080 and $1,199 for the RTX 2080 Ti. Third-party versions of the RTX 2070 will start at $499, the RTX 2080 at $699 and the RTX 2080 Ti at $999. The issue is that Nvidia’s entire reveal focused on ray tracing — to the exclusion of just about everything else. We don’t know, and likely won’t until the RTX cards are released and people are able to run their own benchmar

After developing a cult reputation among anime fans, 2018 is when anime director Masaaki Yuasa landed in the U.S. with atomic force. His first feature, 2004’s Mind Game, is finally getting a proper American DVD and Blu-Ray release later this month. And this week, his latest film, The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl, will arrive to theaters for a special engagement. Even if you devour all of these, you’ll have tasted but a small sampling of the wild and wondrous animation Yuasa has created. The Nigh

Amazon announced today that one of the best perks of Amazon Prime, a 20 percent discount on video game pre-orders, is ending next week. Instead, Prime members who pre-order an eligible game will receive a $10 promotional credit to their Amazon account “up to 35 days after a qualifying purchase.”The new policy takes effect on Aug. 28, which means Prime members have one week to pre-order 2018 (and some early 2019) releases before the 20 percent discount goes away. Thankfully, Amazon lists new game

World of Warcraft: Legion saw players boarding a spaceship and traveling to a distant planet, but Battle for Azeroth has taken a step back in terms of absurdity. But after such a massive leap in technology, there are some serious questions to be asked about where it all went. In a world that’s 24 years old, plenty of characters and items get left by the wayside. Players have reasons for these absences, while the Vindicaar is just completely missing in action. Correction: Steve Danuser title has

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice will launch next spring, publisher Activision announced. Just revealed in June during E3 2018, FromSoftware’s latest hardcore action game will come to PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One for a simultaneous, worldwide release on March 22, 2019. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice takes place in Sengoku-era Japan, and stars a hero that Activision refers to as a “one-armed wolf.” He’s out to both save the man he calls his master and destroy a lifelong enemy in the process. You sh

Amazon Prime’s 20 percent discount on game pre-orders will go away on Aug. 28, the online retailer announced. Instead, Prime members will receive store credit as an incentive to pre-order video games through Amazon, marking a major change to one of the membership’s best benefits. Only pre-orders of “select video games” will come with the $10 store credit promotion, according to Amazon’s terms and conditions for the offer. Amazon Prime members aren’t alone in losing their savings. Best Buy’s rema

Twitch Prime subscribers won’t experience ad-free viewing experiences starting next month as the platform makes changes to one of its most popular features. Twitch announced today in a blog post that ad-free viewing experiences wouldn’t be available through Prime accounts beginning Sept. 14. “Twitch Prime members with monthly subscriptions will continue to get ad-free viewing until October 15,” according to the blog post. “I will be very blunt: Removing 2 core features (ad-free Twitch and 20% of

Nvidia’s new high-end graphics cards are the GeForce RTX 2070, RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti, the company announced today during a pre-Gamescom 2018 livestream from Cologne, Germany. While the company usually waits to launch the more powerful Ti version of a GPU, this time around, it’s releasing the RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti at once. The Nvidia-manufactured Founders Edition versions will cost $599 for the RTX 2070, $799 for the RTX 2080 and $1,199 for the RTX 2080 Ti. Pre-orders are currently availabl

Several abstract teasers have hinted at what to expect from Life is Strange 2, but now we’ve gotten our first actual look at the game. Unlike the previous set of episodes, Life is Strange 2 will focus on two boys: brothers Sean Diaz and Daniel Diaz. Choices hold massive weight, as they did in Life is Strange; this adventure game’s storyline changes based on the decisions you make. Expect more story connections to The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, a free download and prelude to Life is St

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth is all about the faction war at the moment: Horde versus Alliance, red versus blue. So while I left my main character on Alliance, I tested what would happen if you bought a faction change in Battle for Azeroth, switching another to the competing side. I then purchased a faction change out of both necessity and curiosity. Although I was eager to make the switch, I had some holdups before going through with my faction change. For those looking to faction chan

Two of this year’s big games, Electronic Arts’ Battlefield 5 and Square Enix’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider, will feature support for Nvidia’s new RTX line of GPUs and will include real-time ray tracing technology on Windows PC. In a brief real-time ray tracing showcase video, developer DICE illustrates how Nvidia’s RTX 20-series graphics cards will make fire and explosions more realistic than ever, as they cast their light on water, metal and other surfaces. Things in the environment will feel mor

Hitman 2 will bring back the six locations from the previous game — Paris, Sapienza, Marrakesh, Bangkok, Colorado and Hokkaido — as part of the Hitman Legacy Pack, a free download for owners of 2016’s Hitman, IO Interactive and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced today. Those six Hitman locations will be “remastered and enhanced,” IO Interactive said. The Hitman Legacy Pack locations, like the new locations in Hitman 2, will receive new gameplay elements and game modes after launch,

The new color schemes are Berry Blue, Sunset Orange, Blue Camouflage and Copper. Opinions in the Polygon newsroom are mixed about the Berry Blue design, however. “If you’re a fan of trendy patterns, the Blue Camouflage DS4 will be right up your alley,” Schwartz stated. “Alternatively, if you’d prefer sticking to one color, stand out with another metallic addition to the lineup with the shiny and refined new Copper DS4.”So are you feeling playful, stylish, trendy or refined? You can see the Berry

Nintendo held its semi-annual Indie Highlights — or “Nindies” — presentation earlier today, just ahead of Gamescom 2018, showcasing 15 different games that are coming to Switch between now and 2019. That list includes three previously announced games that are available right now, heading up a surprise eShop update for Switch fans worldwide. And Switch also gets Prison Architect today, adding another platform to the cult-favorite management sim:As for the games to come, there are several highligh

Stellaris, the spacefaring grand strategy title from Paradox Development Studio, is headed to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Called Stellaris: Console Edition, no price or release date has yet been announced. First released in 2016, Stellaris blends the traditional 4X genre (which stands for explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate) with Paradox’s own brand of grand strategy. The Leviathans expansion in particular added a new layer of narrative content to the game. Stellaris: Console Edition’s del