The studio looks to the past to predict the future CCP Games, creator of the equally famous and infamousEVE Online, had a lot to celebrate last week. Mere minutes from their offices in Reykjavik Iceland, at the Harpa concert hall, they hosted their 14th Fanfest: a celebration of the game and its fans by way of a three-day event. But the studio is coming off of a rather uncharacteristic past few years, having invested so much in VR, only to watch its investment stagnate....

Top NES-era composers join modern greats Okay, I have no idea how this album is even possible. How do you get the composers of the originalNinja GaidenandMega Man, Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill), Austin Wintory (Journey), Stemage of Metroid Metal, Module (Shatter), the Video Game Orchestra,Danimal Cannon, and more on a single album? Is it possible to accumulate a roster that is any more amazing? Well, it’s been done.World 1-2brings together all of the above artists and more in a collection of original tracks and game remixes in what’s already my most anticipated album of the year....

A song of Blood and Snow Super-popular mobile battlerFire Emblem Heroeswill be getting some new content real soon, as new characters, and a whole new story chapter, land on Nintendo’s free-to-play game later today. The new narrative,Blood and Snow, takes place within a icy wasteland, and will allow players the opportunity to access new Fallen Heroes Hardin, Celica and Robin. You can check out the new fighter’s skills in the trailer below....

Very smoothly The New Xbox One Experience rolled out today, and for me and many others, the transition has been painless. I simply booted up my console, downloaded a roughly 1GB update, and the UI popped right up after a restart. I think some of the complaints regarding the aesthetics are very much ado about nothing, as the NXE feels roughly the same, but I do have one small complaint — pins are now oddly limited on-screen, which is a pain if you own a lot of games....

You just knew this was coming The ZeniMax vs. Oculus VR situation has escalated followingcommentsfromboth sidesabout how intellectual property and key technology driving the Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset may or may not have been worked on while John Carmack was still at ZeniMax-owned id Software prior to his departure to work at Oculus full time as chief technology officer. Today, ZeniMax and id filed a suit against Oculus VR and founder Palmer Luckey for “illegally misappropriating ZeniMax trade secrets relating to virtual reality technology, and infringing ZeniMax copyrights and trademarks....

Insomniac claims focus testing didn’t dilute the game Insomniac Games is working on more content for its recently releasedFuse, but it won’t just be downloadable content. According to studio head Ted Price, the team is already prototyping some substantial new stuff. “For you, our fans … for those of you who dig what we do with crazy worlds, characters and weapons,”said Price, in full PR mode, “for those of you who check outFuseand enjoy a co-op romp through a very “Insomniac” game, this is what I have to say: we’re just getting started....

The NPD group recently revealed figures that indicate ashrinking market for music gamessuch asRock BandandGuitar Hero. The genre’s biggest saturater, (evil) Activision, has naturally come out of the (evil) woodwork to (evilly)deny any such issues, claiming that it believes there is still plenty of room for growth in the realm of plastic toy guitars. “It has been a difficult economic year for everybody. Videogames are down, music videogames in terms of overall are down, but most people don’t understand that the music videogame category is actually the second largest selling gaming category period,” boastsGuitar Heroboss Dan Rosenweig....

Here’s a teaser Well this doesn’t happen all that often! Back in 2014 at TGS, Arc System Works revealedInferno Climber, which was originally slated for a PS4 release. But as of…today, the studio has re-purposed the game as a PC-only title. Now instead of a 2015 release date, the team is aiming to get the game to Steam by spring of 2016. To celebrate this new change, Arc has provided a new teaser trailer that shows off the basic gist....

Vadu Amka’s Red and Blue design I hadn’t connected the dots until now, but artist Vadu Amka is responsible for a number of cool custom game system projects I’ve seen online, some more practicalthan others. This latest one, aPokemon-themed Game Boy, makes great use of Ken Sugimori’s iconic Charizard and Blastoise designs. And the little touches, like the Pokeball buttons — super cool. There’s supposedly at least one Easter egg in the design but I haven’t found it yet....

BGII: Enhanced Edition also affected Overhaul Games has issued arather worrisome statementregardingBaldur’s Gate: Enhanced Editionand its revamped sequel. The game has been removed for purchase from the Apple App Store and Beamdog as a result of “contractual issues” with the company’s publishing partner. “We are unable to discuss details of the complex legal matters surrounding this issue at this time,” writes Overhaul and Beamdog president Trent Oster. “Please be aware that we are extremely unhappy with the situation and are doing our best to work past it....

It’s official folks. With just its severely limited open beta,Battlefield 6has crossed over half a million concurrent players on Steam alone, eclipsing its predecessor’s launch numbers almost fivefold and cementing itself as 2025’s most-hyped game. According to data tracking site SteamDB,Battlefield 6has peaked at 517,102 players as of this article, crossing well over half a million concurrent players. The game’s open beta has finally been opened for everyone after it initially started on Aug....

Wave till your arm aches Cheerio, you sexy adventure game.Deponia‘s pretty groovy, just ask our (presumably) gun-toting Texan, Mr. Pinsof, who’s been enjoying theseriesquite a bit. But all good things must come to an end, and withGoodbye Deponiawe must bid a teary farewell to Daedalic’s charming three-part romp. Daedalic will be showing off the final game over at that E3 thing which you may have heard of, so hopefully we’ll get a chance to check it out this summer....

It has been an exceptionally eventful day over at Activision Blizzard’s slice of the gaming world. In an email to staff, Bobby Kotick revealed that he is stepping down as CEO of Activision Blizzard after 32 years of leading the company. This news comes following the announcement thatMicrosoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is complete. Kotick isn’t leaving immediately, and he’ll remain CEO until the end of 2023. During this time, he’ll be reporting to Xbox CEO Phil Spencer to facilitate the company’s integration into the Xbox family of first-party studios....