The world’s biggest charity speedrunning event just banned Hogwarts Legacy



The world’s biggest charity speedrunning event, Games Done Quick (opens in new tab) (GDQ), has banned speedruns of Hogwarts Legacy and other Harry Potter games in the most recent iteration of its speedrun submission guide (opens in new tab). A new section of the guide listing “Disallowed games” (via The Gamer (opens in new tab))—which didn’t exist on the page as recently as January 6, per the Wayback Machine (opens in new tab)—explicitly forbids runners from submitting Harry Potter game speedruns to the bi-annual charity event.

GDQ doesn’t explain why, exactly, Hogwarts Legacy and other Harry Potter games have been banned from future GDQ events, but it’s difficult to see it as anything other than a response to the association with Harry Potter author JK Rowling (opens in new tab), whose transphobic comments have come to eclipse pretty much every creative work associated with her in the last few years. It’s likely that GDQ, which has featured several trans streamers and recently cancelled an event in Florida in part due to that state’s anti-LGBT+ legislation (opens in new tab), simply has no desire to associate itself with the author.



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Sega arrives late to Japan’s pay-hike party, bumping employee salaries by 30%

Sega has announced that its current Japan-based staff are set to get a monthly pay bump, in a move likely spurred by surging inflation and similar pay increases at Sega’s Japanese competitors. In a press release last Friday, Sega said that (opens in new tab), starting July 1, it “plans to increase the average monthly salary of existing employees by approximately 30%”.

It might seem like a mind-boggling act of corporate generosity to western eyes, especially since we’re all so used to news of swingeing layoffs (opens in new tab) in the tech sector these days, but Sega’s actually lagging its competitors on this one. Bandai Namco, Capcom, and Koei Tecmo announced pay rises for their Japanese employees in the middle of last year, while Nintendo announced a 10% pay bump (opens in new tab) earlier this month.

It’s worth remembering that, as the Japan Times pointed out (opens in new tab), the pay rises at Capcom and the others last year didn’t bring the base salaries at those companies up to Japan’s national average of ¥4.89 million (£30K/$36K). 

Whether or not a 30% monthly salary increase at Sega does manage to get employees up to the national average depends on what they were being paid before, so it’s difficult to say definitively. We do know, however, that Sega is increasing the monthly salary for new-start university graduates from ¥222,000 to ¥300,000 (or ¥3.6 million/£22K/$27K a year, so still below average).

The news comes after Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida urged firms in the country to hand out pay rises (opens in new tab) to help workers cope with inflation, which has seen the country’s real wages (meaning wages adjusted for inflation) fall precipitously. Although Japan has maintained relatively low rates of inflation in comparison to other major economies over the last year or so, it still hit a 41-year high in January (opens in new tab). 


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Wordle hint and answer #611: Monday, February 20

Start your week with a Wordle (opens in new tab) win: today’s answer is only a short scroll or click away. If you’d rather have a helpful hint to guide your daily guessing, you’re in luck because you’ll find a clue for the February 20 (611) Wordle just below, as well as plenty of tips, guides, and general help.

Today’s Wordle technically came together easily, with lots of the letters turning up very early on in the right spots. And then I, for some bizarre reason, decided to dodge the actual answer and plump for a word that nobody uses, ever, as my first proper guess instead. One day I’ll just go for the right word first, but not today.

Wordle hint

A Wordle hint for Monday, February 20

Today’s answer means to perspire, something that often happens after exercise or other physical exertion but is also possible when deeply nervous or worried. You’ll need to find two vowels today. 

Is there a double letter in today’s Wordle? 

There are no double letters in today’s Wordle. 

Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day 

If you’ve decided to play Wordle but you’re not sure where to start, I’ll help set you on the path to your first winning streak. Make all your guesses count and become a Wordle winner with these quick tips: 

  • A good opener has a mix of common vowels and consonants. 
  • The answer could contain the same letter, repeated.
  • Avoid words that include letters you’ve already eliminated. 

You’re not racing against the clock so there’s no reason to rush. In fact, it’s not a bad idea to treat the game like a casual newspaper crossword and come back to it later if you’re coming up blank. Sometimes stepping away for a while means you can come back with a fresh perspective. 

Today’s Wordle answer

(Image credit: Josh Wardle)

What is the Wordle #611 answer?

Start the week with a win. The answer to the February 20 (611) Wordle is SWEAT.

Previous answers

The last 10 Wordle answers 

Previous Wordle solutions can help to eliminate guesses for today’s Wordle, as the answer isn’t likely to be repeated. They can also give you some solid ideas for starting words that keep your daily puzzle-solving fresh.

Here are some recent Wordle answers:

  • February 19: KIOSK
  • February 18: AVAIL
  • February 17: CACHE
  • February 16: MAGIC
  • February 15: SALSA
  • February 14: SOUND
  • February 13: USAGE
  • February 12: GIANT
  • February 11: DEBUG
  • February 10: HEADY

Learn more about Wordle 

There are six rows of five boxes presented to you by Wordle each day, and you’ll need to work out which five-letter word is hiding among them to win the daily puzzle.

Start with a strong word (opens in new tab) like ALIVE—or any other word with a good mix of common consonants and multiple vowels. You should also avoid starting words with repeating letters, so you don’t waste the chance to confirm or eliminate an extra letter. Once you’ve typed your guess and hit Enter, you’ll see which letters you’ve got right or wrong. If a box turns ⬛️, it means that letter isn’t in the secret word at all. 🟨 means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. 🟩 means you’ve got the right letter in the right spot.

Your second guess should compliment the first, using another “good” word to cover any common letters you might have missed on the first row—just don’t forget to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn’t present in today’s answer. After that, it’s just a case of using what you’ve learned to narrow your guesses down to the correct word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words and don’t forget letters can repeat too (eg: BOOKS).

If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips (opens in new tab), and if you’d like to find out which words have already been used you can scroll to the relevant section above. 

Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle (opens in new tab), as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle (opens in new tab), refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn’t long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures (opens in new tab). Surely it’s only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes. 


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Razer’s new BlackWidow V4 Pro wireless gaming keyboard is a beast with a price to match

It’s still weird to think that Razer, a brand known for PC gaming peripherals, only released its first wireless gaming keyboard in 2020 (opens in new tab). We haven’t seen tonnes of wireless keyboards from Razer since, though there was the excellent 65% Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini Hyperspeed (opens in new tab), and the very nice productivity suite board (opens in new tab). But not a lot for full-sized gaming keyboard fans—until now.

Razer has just announced its newest wireless gaming keyboard with the BlackWidow V4 Pro (opens in new tab). From the looks of it, this board is set to carry forward many features we’ve loved in previous Razer keyboards (opens in new tab), but also one we’ve never been too fond of: the price. Retailing at $US230 or $AU400, this beast isn’t cheap.

To be fair, it does look to be a very feature-complete piece of kit, especially for fans of that Razer aesthetic. It’ll come with the full complement of individual key-based RGB lighting effects as well as underglows under the chassis and wrist rests. It would be a bright centrepiece of any desktop, though you’ll have to deal with Razer’s Synapse software for full customisation. 

The BlackWidow V4 looks nice on the keys and switches front too. You can choose between Razer’s mechanical clicky green switches or the quiet yellow ones depending on your style. To customise further you’ve got five dedicated macros with three on the side, and a new knob which has been dubbed the Razer Command Dial.

I’m just going to say it. I love knobs. On keyboards. A tactile, twisty dial is a pretty big selling point for me, and not enough boards feature them. This one boasts eight default modes for doing everyday tasks like zooming or switching tabs, and up to 100 you can customise yourself. This could mean scrolling through documents, media adjustments, or for folks who like to use art programs it can be used to adjust brush sizes and the likes. 

Speaking of media adjustments, there’s also a dedicated media roller above the number pad with four buttons set aside for extra controls. I quite like having a setup just for media on a keyboard. It’s nice to change those settings without having to go into the individual app. Plus, the roller looks like it’d be fun to use which is really all I care about here.

The last feature I really like the look of is the USB 2.0 passthrough. Sure, it’s only 2.0, but any USB passthrough on keyboards is always a blessing. It’s so much more convenient being able to plug temporary things in via the keyboard than finding a port on the computer itself. I’m hoping we’ll see more USB passthrough on keyboards in the future.

There’s tonnes of features packed into this board, but it all comes down to the price. There are after all some excellent budget gaming keyboards (opens in new tab) out there. The Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro looks like it’ll be a much more fancy wireless board for your PC gaming setups, with an equally fancy price to match. 


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This randomizer mod reshuffles classic shooters like Duke 3D, Blood, and Shadow Warrior

Modder Die4Ever has brought a selection of classic PC FPSes to the chaos realm with a new project, the Build Engine Randomizer (opens in new tab). The mod lets players remix the enemy and item placements for games on Ken Silverman’s legendary Build Engine⁠—most famous for Duke Nukem 3D, it also served as a middleware platform for developers like Monolift and Lobotomy.

Die4Ever’s Build Randomizer works on Duke 3D, Shadow Warrior, Blood, Powerslave, and Voidpoint’s 2019 Build FPS, Ion Fury. The mod creates new seeds of the game with reshuffled item and enemy placements, with added parameters for how difficult and how out there the new configurations might be, with Die4Ever warning that “putting every setting to maximum will make the game nearly impossible.”

In addition to the contents of individual levels, the mod lets you randomize the level orders in Duke Nukem 3D and Ion Fury specifically, further adding to the potential surprise and challenge. Installing and running the mod is fairly straightforward, with per-game instructions provided on Die4Ever’s GitHub (opens in new tab) page. The modder recommends using source ports like EDuke32 (opens in new tab) and NBlood (opens in new tab) to run the randomizer, and I was able to pretty quickly launch into a randomized seed of the latter despite never dabbling in Build mods before.

I think there’s a lot of promise inherent to bringing this treatment to classic games, the sort of shooters where your average fan knows every item and enemy from start to finish already. Die4Ever’s made a bit of a modding career out of this sort of refreshening of classic games: we’ve previously covered Die4Ever’s expansive Deus Ex Randomizer (opens in new tab), and the modder has similar projects targeting Roller Coaster Tycoon (opens in new tab) and Starcraft 2 (opens in new tab).


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Five new Steam games you probably missed (February 20, 2023)

On an average day about a dozen new games are released on Steam. And while we think that’s a good thing, it can be understandably hard to keep up with. Potentially exciting gems are sure to be lost in the deluge of new things to play unless you sort through every single game that is released on Steam. So that’s exactly what we’ve done. If nothing catches your fancy this week, we’ve gathered the best PC games (opens in new tab) you can play right now and a running list of the 2023 games (opens in new tab) that are launching this year. 

Birth

Steam‌ ‌page‌ (opens in new tab) ‌
Release:‌ February 18
Developer:‌ Madison Karrh
Launch price:‌ ‌$9.89 |‌ ‌£7.46 ‌|‌ ‌AU$13.95

There are many ways to combat loneliness, but creating a buddy out of random “bare bones and organs” found around town isn’t one that has ever occurred to me. That’s what Birth is about, an adventure puzzle game about making a very unusual bestie. You’ll roam a variety of locations—libraries, cafes, markets—solving various puzzles and interacting with a gaggle of local entities, all the better to secure another piece of your slowly growing friend. It’s a fascinating premise, backed up by an art style that exquisitely matches blissful domesticity with a discomforting horror element. This weird mix is exemplified by the game’s mysterious cast, who wouldn’t look out of place in Pathologic 2 (opens in new tab), and yet, they look so nice.

Dreams in the Witch House

Steam‌ ‌page (opens in new tab)‌ ‌
Release:‌ February 16
Developer:‌ Atom Brain Games
Launch price:‌ ‌$11 |‌ ‌£9.29 |‌ ‌AU$16.25

Here’s a more conventional point ‘n’ click adventure, based on the H.P. Lovecraft story Dreams in the Witch House, which has also recently been adapted for TV (opens in new tab). I haven’t read the original story, but the premise is basically this: protagonist Walter Gilman has just moved to Arkham and is boarding at a hostel of ill-repute. The game follow’s Gilman’s actions in the lead up to May-Eve, and you’re basically free to do what you want with Gilman during that period: study, read weird occult texts, or even just sleep. You’ll probably spend most of the time exploring the game’s open world interpretation of Arkham, though, with a steady eye on your health and sanity meters. Sanity is a hot commodity, by the way, because as days pass things will get increasingly weird, as they are wont to do in the Lovecraft universe. 

The Last Starship

Steam‌ ‌page (opens in new tab)‌ ‌
Release:‌ February 16
Developer:‌ Introversion Software
Launch price:‌ ‌$27 |‌ ‌£22.49 |‌ ‌AU$39.55

From the creators of Prison Architect and DEFCON comes this spaceship management game, which studio Introversion Software describes as its “most ambitious title ever”. Set in a vast procedurally generated universe, it’s your job to build, maintain and conduct missions in your own spacefaring vessel. You’ll start off humble, but it’s possible to build a whole fleet of ships, all the better to gather resources, conduct trade, and—of course—stick it to space baddies. Coming across as Elite with much more involved management elements, The Last Starship is an Early Access affair and, like earlier Introversion games, it’ll likely stay there for several years while the studio grows and iterates on it.

Corpse Keeper

Steam‌ ‌page (opens in new tab)‌ ‌
Release:‌ ‌February 15
Developer:‌ Melancholia Studio
Launch price:‌ ‌$18 |‌ ‌£15.07 |‌ ‌AU$26.55

Here’s another Early Access game with a ton of potential. If you’ve ever wanted a fighting game to inherit the pace of Dark Souls’ weapon-based combat, Corpse Keeper is basically that, wrapped in a bleak fantasy roguelite package. The fighting is the highlight, with true-to-life swordplay sitting alongside hectically unrealistic skills and the usual parrying and evasion. There are “dozens” of playable characters too, though you’re not allowed to find your fave and rely on it forever thanks to the fact that they’re all corpses blighted by a tendency to decay. The Early Access period is indefinite, though it’s a fairly substantial package already, with six stages, the aforementioned dozens of playable corpses, and lots of new stages and items promised in the future.

Raid on Taihoku

Steam‌ ‌page‌ (opens in new tab) ‌
Release:‌ February 16
Developer:‌ Mizoriot Creative Company LTD, fun2studio
Launch price:‌ ‌$18 |‌ ‌£15.07 |‌ ‌AU$26.55

Here’s a narrative adventure game set in World War 2 Taiwan, right at the pointy end of its Japanese rule. Raid of Taihoku takes place during the American raid on that city, and the objective here is to survive in the ruins. What results is a story heavily steeped in history, as amnesiac protagonist Sayako roams the still-under fire city in search of their lost memories. If that sounds too bleak, don’t worry: there’s a dog. According to the developers, the aim of Raid on Taihoku is to help players “experience the cruelty and toughness of the war”. 


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An AI that plays Minecraft for you got made, but it won’t be released

Microsoft has applied advanced AI towards a program that plays Minecraft in response to natural-language text prompts: Telling the character to dig, or build, would result in the character doing just that. The tech was demo’d internally to Microsoft employees, and was made using an AI other than Prometheus, the technology that Microsoft uses for its new Bing chat—developed by ChatGPT.

The development was reported by Semafor (opens in new tab), who got it from an internal source. The Minecraft-playing AI was made as an experiment of sorts, shown off as an internal demo. Either way, the thought of an AI capable of taking an input like “build a house” or “cut down a tree” and implementing it in Minecraft is pretty impressive stuff. (That’s what Microsoft wanted to do as-of May last year (opens in new tab), and it seems like it at least partially succeeded.)

Semafor reports that Microsoft “has no immediate plans to include the feature in the public version of Minecraft.” That’s not surprising, as past language or voice control experiments in gaming have generally been failures—experiments implemented as gimmicks before the technology was truly ready. That, or much like the similar Hololens tech Microsoft used to love combining with Minecraft, fancy proofs of concept. (opens in new tab)

Perhaps the most interesting possible application of the tech was pointed out by Kotaku (opens in new tab): A voice-controlled natural-language game may well be an accessibility option in the future. Despite remarkable advances in controls for people who can use neither keyboard nor mouse, such equipment can still be quite expensive. (Not to mention others for whom current tech isn’t an option at all.)

Microsoft isn’t the first to play with its crafting game as a place to train AI. OpenAI did so last year, and as far back as 2016 (opens in new tab) a firm was using the game as a playground for AI research.

For my part seeing the whole thing reported as impressive is more than a little funny, seeing as Twitter (and PCGamer.com (opens in new tab)) has been relentlessly mocking Microsoft’s new AI-driven Bing chat service for the past week. Different AI, at least—but still.

Anyway, show me the AI that plays Skyrim for me next, Microsoft. Surely that’s an easier problem to solve.


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Wordle hint and answer #610: Sunday, February 19

Scroll down our help-filled Wordle (opens in new tab) page and read today’s freshly prepared clue, click straight through to February 19 (610)’s answer, or stay a while and improve your daily Wordle game as a whole with our guides, tips, and hints.

I’d been struggling with a few yellows and one awkward green today—they just didn’t seem to make any sense. Things were really looking grim until a desperate guess with an often avoided letter turned things around just in time.

Wordle hint

A Wordle hint for Sunday, February 19

The word you’re looking for today describes a small and often shed-like building people use to sell newspapers, snacks, and drinks. It can also refer to small freestanding computer screens found in doctor’s surgeries, museums, and other similar places, designed to either automate a signing-in procedure or offer general visitor information. 

Is there a double letter in today’s Wordle? 

Yes, there is a double letter in today’s puzzle. 

Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day 

Anyone can pick up and play Wordle, but if you want to do it well and make all of your guesses count, these quick tips will help get you started on your Wordle winning streak: 

  • Choose an opener with a balanced mix of unique vowels and consonants. 
  • The answer may contain the same letter, multiple times.
  • Try not to use guesses that contain letters you’ve already eliminated. 

Thankfully, there’s no time limit beyond ensuring it’s done by midnight. So there’s no reason not to treat the game like a casual newspaper crossword and come back to it later if you’re coming up blank. Sometimes stepping away for a while means you can come back with a fresh perspective. 

Today’s Wordle answer

(Image credit: Josh Wardle)

What is the Wordle #610 answer?

Everyone needs a little help from time to time. The answer to the February 19 (610) Wordle is KIOSK.

Previous answers

The last 10 Wordle answers 

Past Wordle answers can give you some excellent ideas for fun starting words that keep your daily puzzle-solving fresh. They are also a good way to eliminate guesses for today’s Wordle, as the answer is unlikely to be repeated. 

Here are some recent Wordle solutions:

  • February 18: AVAIL
  • February 17: CACHE
  • February 16: MAGIC
  • February 15: SALSA
  • February 14: SOUND
  • February 13: USAGE
  • February 12: GIANT
  • February 11: DEBUG
  • February 10: HEADY
  • February 9: STAGE

Learn more about Wordle 

Wordle gives you six rows of five boxes each day, and you’ll need to work out which secret five-letter word is hiding inside them to keep up your winning streak.

You should start with a strong word (opens in new tab) like ARISE, or any other word that contains a good mix of common consonants and multiple vowels. You’ll also want to avoid starting words with repeating letters, as you’re wasting the chance to potentially eliminate or confirm an extra letter. Once you hit Enter, you’ll see which ones you’ve got right or wrong. If a box turns ⬛️, it means that letter isn’t in the secret word at all. 🟨 means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. 🟩 means you’ve got the right letter in the right spot.

You’ll want your next guess to compliment the first, using another “good” word to cover any common letters you might have missed last time while also trying to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn’t present in today’s answer. After that, it’s simply a case of using what you’ve learned to narrow your guesses down to the correct word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words and don’t forget letters can repeat too (eg: BOOKS).

If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips (opens in new tab), and if you’d like to find out which words have already been used you can scroll to the relevant section above. 

Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle (opens in new tab), as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle (opens in new tab), refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn’t long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures (opens in new tab). Surely it’s only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes. 


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Great moments in PC gaming: Being thrown out a window in Gunpoint

Great moments in PC gaming are bite-sized celebrations of some of our favorite gaming memories.

Gunpoint

(Image credit: Suspicious Developments)

Developer: Suspicious Developments
Year: 2013

Gunpoint is the first part of the “defenestration trilogy”, which is a trilogy in the same sense as Edgar Wright’s “Cornetto trilogy” of movies—Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End—which shared a few of the same creators and referenced Cornetto ice creams  but were otherwise unconnected. 

The defenestration trilogy consists of Gunpoint, Heat Signature, and Tactical Breach Wizards, three games by Suspicious Developments that all let you throw people out of windows, which is what defenestration means if you’re not up on your “terms popularized by Bohemian history (opens in new tab)“. (For shame.)

In Gunpoint, a 2D stealth game, you’ve got a pair of Bullfrog brand hypertrousers that let you leap incredible distances. As you work your way through this game of cybercorporate espionage, taking each level apart like a biology-class frog, you collect more gadgets and upgrades. They include a Crosslink hacking tool that lets you rewire and reconnect devices, and a Dropshot trenchcoat that muffles the sound of your landing as you inevitably fall from a great height thanks to those Bullfrog hypertrousers. You can also buy a handgun. It’s called the Resolver. It’s just a gun.

The Crosslink lets you play Gunpoint real clever-like, say, by connecting an audio sensor to a trapdoor so that when you send an elevator to the floor the sensor’s on the sound of it going “ding” makes the trapdoor open just as a guard’s walking over it. You can also play dopey if you like, and there were definitely some levels where I said, “Bugger this for a game of Thief: The Dark Project,” and just jumped on someone before punching them a few more times than was strictly necessary. Stealth games are about having options, yeah?

The final level puts the villain at the top of a secure skyscraper you have to work your way up, and because of a decision I’d made prior, he was protected by an assassin. When I finally made it to the top floor, the assassin leaped at me and we went sailing through the window. Turned out I wasn’t the only person who had invested in a pair of Bullfrog hypertrousers.A city skyline at night

(Image credit: Suspicious Developments)

It was a hell of a shock. After maybe five hours of being the one who jumped on people—Gunpoint isn’t a long game—it hadn’t occurred to me somebody else might have bought special trousers. As we landed at the foot of that skyscraper, the sound muffled by my Dropshot trenchcoat, I realized that while my copycat opponent bought the same trousers, he had neglected to also buy a gun. So I shot him.

Even at the end, Gunpoint let me apply the most direct solution to a problem, and I love it for that. Of course, the noise of that gunshot alerted the bad guy and started a countdown to the police arriving, but that only made things more tense as I raced back up the skyscraper to deal with him. Stealth games are about having options, yeah?


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Fighter management sim Punch Club gets a sequel

In 2016, Lazy Bear Games released a fighter management sim called Punch Club, which is kind of like a Princess Maker game if the princess was actually Rocky, and sometimes had to fight crocodiles. Now the studio has announced it’s working on a sequel. Punch Club 2: Fast Forward will be out in 2023.

Unlike the original, which was set in a kind of pop-culture melange of the ’80s and ’90s, Punch Club 2 is set in a synthwave near future with cyborgs, holograms, brains in jars, and a corporation that owns you. Expect to see references to everything from Robocop and Blade Runner to The Matrix and Cyberpunk 2077.

As the announcement on Steam (opens in new tab) puts it, “The streets are covered in neon, police holograms patrol neighborhoods, the gym has a new neuro fitness machine, and… Wait is that a Jedi robot massage therapist?!”

The original Punch Club was a lifestyle sim where you had to balance your fighter’s gym training, job, and recreation to make sure he was fit and healthy, while grinding up stats in whichever aspect of physicality you decided to focus on. Since those stats could decay if they weren’t reinforced by use, it could get brutal if you didn’t min-max with enough dedication.

The actual fights were more hands-off. You could analyze an opponent before a bout, then assign some moves based on whatever the best way to take them down with your fighter’s skill set seemed to be. After watching how that played out, you had another chance to choose moves each round.

It seems like the core of that remains true in Punch Club 2. The trailer shows a fighter who works in a girder-bending factory, a noodle stand, and some kind of “slime-beating” facility where he goes Rocky on cocoons for a living. He also tracks down a secret master in a sewer, fights cyborgs, and gets abilities by watching movies like Starship Slimers and Pants of God starring Chani Jack on VHS.

So yeah, the pop culture references remain heavy. One thing confirmed to have changed, according to the YouTube video description (opens in new tab), is “No more stat decay!” That’ll make a lot of players happy, as it was one of the most frequent complaints leveled at the original.

Punch Club 2: Fast Forward is being published by tinyBuild and will be out on Steam (opens in new tab), GOG (opens in new tab), and the Epic Games store later this year.


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