Routine, A First-Person Sci-Fi Horror Game, Coming To Xbox Game Pass

Announced during Summer Game Fest, Routine is a first-person sci-fi horror game, where players must deal with evil mechanical robots aboard an abandoned space station. The short trailer showed a person sneaking through a space station, when a robot with a very evil smile snatched them up.

It’s a THRILL to reveal that we’re reviving ROUTINE together with @LunarSoftware 🤖
Explore an abandoned Lunar base and uncover a deadly mystery that could cost you everything. Coming to PC, Xbox One / Series X|S, and Game Pass!
Wishlist ROUTINE TODAY:https://t.co/eb47kNKtA0 pic.twitter.com/sA0sW5PWOG

— Raw Fury (@RawFury) June 9, 2022

The game also features a score by Mick Gordan, best known for his work on Doom (2016) and Wolfenstein: The New Order. No release date was announced, but Routine is coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

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Gotham Knights Preorders Come With Free $10 Gift Card

Gotham Knights is bringing DC fans back to their favorite crime-ridden city on October 25. The open-world, action RPG is arriving on Xbox Series X, PS5, and PC, and it’s promising to be a true new-gen experience. WB Games canceled the PS4 and Xbox One versions due to Gotham Knights’ overwhelming scale–which is bad news for last-gen console owners but should allow it to make full use of the processing power on the latest platforms.

Plenty of gameplay has been revealed in the months leading up to launch, and three versions of Gotham Knights are now available for preorder. There are also some enticing goodies for reserving your copy ahead of time. Here’s a closer look at everything you need to know about Gotham Knights preorders.

Gotham Knights Preorder Bonuses

Preorder Gotham Knights and you’ll receive the 233 Kustom Batcycle Skin. Retailer-specific bonuses are a bit light, but preordering from Best Buy will get you a $10 promotional gift card– although it’s unclear how long this deal will last. Be sure to check back in the months leading up to launch, as new bonuses might crop up.

Gotham Knights brings players back to the gritty world of Gotham, although Batman is noticeably absent. Instead, you’ll jump into the spandex costumes of Red Hood, Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing, each with their own unique skills and attributes. Combat is also radically different from the old Arkham games, with a heavier emphasis on RPG upgrades and cooperative play.

A handful of gameplay videos and teasers have revealed quite a bit about the game. Beyond getting a few cinematic trailers and developer overviews, we’ve also seen its combat in action along with a bit of exploration gameplay.

Editor’s Note: Article updated on June 9, 2022

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The Last Of Us PS5 Remaster Leaks With September Release Date

The Last of Us is making the jump to a third generation of PlayStation consoles and coming to PlayStation 5. The announcement comes after Twitter user Wario64 noticed a PlayStation 5 listing of the game earlier today. According to the PlayStation store listing, the game is scheduled to release on PlayStation 5 on September 2.

The Last of Us Part I (PS5 standard/Firefly Edition) up for preorder at PS Direct ($69.99/$99.99) https://t.co/HTMHHsMi6v

trailer: https://t.co/dumiWe62Kj pic.twitter.com/I7HNA3wD2X

— Wario64 (@Wario64) June 9, 2022

Both editions also come with Left Behind, a DLC expansion that follows Ellie during the events leading up to The Last of Us as well as a brief period of time she is separated from Joel during the game.

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JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R Early Access Demo Coming On June 16

Bandai Namco has announced that an early access demo for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R will be available from June 16-22 on PS5 and PS4. Players can hop into online and practice modes, and will be able to choose from four playable characters: Jonathan Joestar, Jotaro Kujo, Jolyne Cujoh, and Dio.

A remaster of the 2013 PS3 game, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R will launch on September 2 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Switch. That game’s original roster of over 40 characters has been expanded to 50 fighters that represent every story arc of the manga series and its anime adaptations.

Several of the voice actors from the various anime series have reprised their roles for the remaster, and the game also features numerous tweaks to its graphics, gameplay, and audio design.

If you’re unfamiliar with the source material, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is a long-running manga series that features multiple generations of the Joestar bloodline battling vampires, ancient civilizations, and Stand users who can manifest their souls as avatars that have unique powers. They also happen to be named after rock, heavy metal, and hip-hop groups.

The most recent anime adaptation, Stone Ocean, debuted on Netflix last year and follows Jolyne Cujoh during her incarceration in the Green Dolphin Street State Prison. Preorders of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R will unlock a bonus prison jacket costume for Jolyne in the game, and a new season consisting of 12 episodes will debut on Netflix later this year.

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Xbox Will Release At Least 5 New Games In Next Year, Microsoft Says

Microsoft is on track to release at least five new first-party games in the next financial year, which would be on pace with the company’s last annual output.

As part of a briefing with media this week attended by GameSpot, Microsoft said it released five first-party titles in the fiscal year that began July 1, 2021 and ends on June 30, 2022. For the upcoming fiscal year, Microsoft said, “We are on track to meet or exceed that amount in the next fiscal” (via VGC).

The five first-party games Microsoft released last fiscal year included Flight Simulator, Psychonauts 2, Age of Empires IV, Forza Horizon 5, and Halo Infinite.

Right now, Microsoft has two titles slated for release in the upcoming fiscal year–Bethesda’s Starfield and Redfall–both of which are coming in the first half of 2023. This means Microsoft will have at least three more titles to come by June 30, 2022 that have not been announced yet.

Microsoft has plenty more games in the works from its many studios around the world, including Avowed from Obsidian, Hellblade 2 from Ninja Theory, the next Forza game from Turn 10, State of Decay 3 from Undead Labs, and a new Fable game from Playground Games, among others. None of these games have release dates yet.

Microsoft previously committed to launching at least one new first-party Xbox game every three months, which would be a total of four in a calendar year.

As for when Microsoft might illuminate the future for Xbox games, the Xbox and Bethesda summer games showcase on June 12 is expected to bring a lot of news and reveals. Before that, Summer Game Fest Live takes place today, June 9, with new game reveals and more.

In other Xbox news, Microsoft just announced that an Xbox app will be available in Samsung’s 2022 smart TVs that will let anyone play Xbox games without a console.

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Some Future Activision Blizzard Games Will Be Xbox-Exclusive, Microsoft Confirms

Microsoft has revealed more details on its plans for Activision Blizzard, once its planned acquisition of the gaming company has been completed. During a media briefing, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty spoke about exclusivity and how Microsoft wants to ensure that the communities for some of Activision Blizzard’s biggest multiplatform properties are looked after.

“Ultimately what our goal is, is to make gaming more accessible to players and more accessible to creators. If we acquire a game that comes with a big community across a number of platforms, the last thing we want to do is take something away,” Booty said. “If anything, we feel that it’s our job to be caretakers, to be shepherds, to continue to build and nurture that community, not to cut it up into pieces and try to take some of it away.”

One example pointed out by Microsoft of its attitude towards multiplatform games was Minecraft, which was released on other platforms after its developer Mojang was acquired.

Microsoft has already confirmed that the Call of Duty series will still be a multiplatform franchise for the foreseeable future, as back in January Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said that the company would “honor all existing agreements upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation.”

GM for programming and events Tina Summerford did make clear that some games will become Xbox exclusives, presumably brand-new projects in development at Activision Blizzard. “We want to put as many titles as possible from Activision Blizzard into Game Pass when they join us,” Summerford said.

Ahead of the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase on June 12, Microsoft has made a big announcement regarding its cloud gaming efforts. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will soon be able to stream a “select” number of Xbox games they personally own to other devices, even if those titles aren’t in their Game Pass library. Microsoft is aiming to have the feature ready by the end of the year.

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Xbox Streaming Games Coming To Samsung TV App; Console Not Required

Making good on a promise it made in 2021, Microsoft officially announced today that it is partnering with Samsung to create an Xbox App for the company’s smart TVs that will let anyone play Xbox games via the cloud, without the need to own an Xbox console.

Starting June 30, anyone with a “new Samsung 2022 smart TV” in 27 supported countries can download the Xbox App and start playing games via the cloud. Players will seemingly also need an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, except in the case of Fortnite. As announced previously, Microsoft and Epic worked out a deal to make Fortnite free to stream for everyone.

Microsoft understands that it cannot sell everyone a console because some people don’t want to or can’t spend the $300+ required to purchase the hardware. With the Xbox App for TVs, users will only need a Bluetooth controller, and it doesn’t even need to be an Xbox controller.

Similar to how Xbox streaming works on PC and mobile, players can use an Xbox controller or a DualShock controller, or other supported Bluetooth controllers. Bluetooth headsets are also supported for game audio and chat.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said, “We’re building a platform that can reach billions of players–whether it’s on console, whether it’s on PC, whether it’s through Xbox cloud streaming–where players on any device they want to play on should be able to find the content they want to play.”

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Ghostbusters VR Is Coming To PSVR 2, New Location-Based Game Also Announced

Sony Pictures Virtual Reality has announced that Ghostbusters VR will be coming to PSVR 2, Sony’s in-development virtual reality platform, and has also revealed Ghostbusters VR Academy.

A new location-based virtual reality game being developed by Hologate, Ghostbusters VR Academy will let players take part in Ghostbuster training and pilot a flying version of the Ecto-1 in a high-speed race to see who’s the fastest.

After the training portion is completed, teams of four can strap on a proton pack and take on missions where they’re tasked with catching a few phantoms that are running rampant. Ghostbusters VR Academy will be playable at 400 Hologate locations globally by the end of 2022.

Who ya gonna call?

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Ghostbusters VR–which was announced in April at the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase–is aiming to create an authentic Ghostbusters experience and can be played solo or as a team with up to three friends. It has its own campaign, as well as access to plenty of equipment based on the tools used in the Ghostbusters franchise.

Ghostbusters is experiencing a Renaissance currently as the most recent film in the series, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, did well at the box office last year. A new Ghostbusters animated series is in development at Netflix and Friday the 13th developer Illfonic is working on an asymmetrical multiplayer game called Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed.

If that’s not enough content for you, there’s even a 1:1 scale replica of the Ghostbusters proton pack coming out next year that looks authentic enough to be used as evidence in a court case that definitely won’t be interrupted by ghosts who were sentenced to an electric chair by a gavel-wielding judge.

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Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds’ First Update Adds The Familiar Arena

Netmarble has announced its first update for its online role-playing anime game Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds. The update introduces Familiar Arena, a feature that uses the player’s familiars, allowing them to make an offensive deck of their collection to battle against the defense decks of other players.

Kingdom Dungeon will also be introduced alongside the new update. In Kingdom Dungeon, players will have the opportunity to clear dungeons with other players and earn various rewards. The Dimensional Border will also be receiving a new open map called the Frozen Laboratory.

Players can also look forward to the following events:

Kingdom Mission Event – clear various missions have been given from the Kingdom, and after clearing every mission, players can acquire a 4-star Weapon Select Chest that is available now.Daily Familiar Arena – clear various mission-related to Familiar Arena, and after finishing all missions, players can acquire 4-star Familiar Random Capsule.New Costumes – the Outworldly Street Outfit is now available for players to acquire

Based on Level-5 and Studio Ghibli’s original fantasy RPG series Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds is a free-to-play mobile game on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. It launched on May 25 and is also playable on PC using cross-play.

For more Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds news, check out these stories:

How Does Cross Worlds Fit Into The Ni No Kuni Universe?

Ni No Kuni Cross Worlds Is A Robust Mobile MMO That Mostly Plays Itself

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Review Roundup For Mario Strikers: Battle League

The 2000s marked a bit of a heyday for Nintendo’s sports offerings and among its gems was Mario Strikers, a crown jewel in the shape of an arcade-soccer game with an emphasis on striking. The oft cartoonishly violent and over-the-top series was a party staple like little else: How many other soccer games let you flatten a goalie with giant hammers just to sink a shot?

We never got much out of the Mario Strikers series though, with the last game releasing on the Nintendo Wii in 2007. However, Nintendo has begun resurrecting some of its long-forgotten series lately, including the Wii Sports franchise with this spring’s Nintendo Switch Sports, and now it’s Mario Strikers: Battle League‘s time to shine. Unfortunately, it seems Nintendo has opted for a pared-down “less is more” kind of approach–though that hasn’t stopped folks from having fun with the same chaos Mario Strikers has always dealt in. In GameSpot’s Mario Strikers: Battle League review, we said that the game was “a thin package, without very much variety in terms of game modes and options. But it is a more technically complex game than many of the Mario sports titles, which may give it legs for dedicated players.”

GameSpot’s sister site Metacritic puts Mario Strikers: Battle League at an aggregated score of 75 and lists a range of reviews from around the industry in case you’d like to know what others think of Nintendo’s latest sports game revival.

Game: Mario Strikers: Battle LeaguePlatforms: Nintendo SwitchDeveloper: Next Level Games, Nintendo EPDRelease Date: June 10Price: $60

GameSpot — 7/10

“Mario Strikers: Battle League may be the most mechanically dense Mario sports game I’ve played. The latest Mushroom Kingdom spin on soccer looks to take the sport seriously, allowing you to juggle passes, tackle, dodge, and cancel moves as the situation demands, even before factoring in its uniquely silly Mario twists. That makes for a high skill ceiling that could conceivably give the game a long lifespan, but its potential is held back by the fact that there just isn’t all that much to do.” – Steve Watts [Full review]

Nintendo Life — 9/10

“Mario Strikers: Battle League is a masterclass in competitive game design. What it lacks in options is more than made up by just how much fun the game is, and it’s absolutely gorgeous to boot. As it stands it already feels like a complete product, but the promise of future updates down the line gives us even more to get excited about. If arcade sport action isn’t your bag, it’ll likely do nothing to sway your opinion, but if you have even a passing interest in this kind of caper, Mario Strikers: Battle League is the best sports game on Switch right now.” – Alex Olney [Full review]

Polygon — Recommended

“Mario Strikers: Battle League is far from perfect. In an iterative series of Mario sports games, where each entry seems to raise the bar — Mario Golf: Super Rush and Mario Tennis Aces come to mind — Battle League is relatively tame. But it does wonders for some of gaming’s oldest characters, allowing the likes of Peach, Wario, or Waluigi to let loose. In the fiercely limited time I’ve spent with each of them on the field these past two weeks, I’ve seen an energy and gravitas from these characters that they haven’t shown in years. Whether it’s the temper of Peach or the joy of a fellow Toad basking in the glory of victory, Battle League is ready to stretch its legs.” – Ana Diaz [Full review]

Video Game Chronicle — 3/5

“Ultimately, like many of the Mario Sports games on the Nintendo Switch, Mario Strikers: Battle League feels like it will be an excellent single-player offering in a year, once much more content is added. At the moment, it’s incredibly thin, and while the online modes are fun, those looking to play alone will be left wanting.” – Jordan Middler [Full review]

IGN — 8/10

“Mario Strikers: Battle League is part skillful soccer game, part ruthless brawler, and almost always a complete blast to play. If you’ve played any games in the series before, there won’t be many surprises in store for you and the small roster of characters and game modes is definitely disappointing, but what’s there is incredibly fun and replayable. I’m impressed by the online mode in the time I’ve had with it so far too, as it sets the stage for a ranked playlist that I look forward to grinding my way to the top of.” – Travis Northup [Full review]

Game Informer — 7.5/10

“Mario Strikers: Battle League may not be the ultimate version of the world’s most popular sport, but its strategic matches, fun online modes, and energetic animations make for an enjoyable experience. While the single-player crowd may find the game a bit lacking, Nintendo’s return to the pitch is bound to create the same triumphant highs, and friendship-ending lows the company’s suite of other party titles is known for.” – Alex Stadnik [Full review]

Gamesradar — 2.5/5

“Though occasionally likable and basically inoffensive, Mario Strikers: Battle League struggles to build on its ideas and ends up feeling pretty undercooked as an experience.” -Joel Franey [Full review]

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