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D&D’s artificers are getting revised for the 2024 rules update in a book that will also let you play a guy who has a magic GPS and knows where everyone is at all times

Eberron: Forge of the Artificer Teaser Trailer | Dungeons & Dragons – YouTube

The D&D supplement that sees the most use at my table is Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, which gets referenced more often than the Dungeon Master’s Guide thanks to its variety of player options—wacky subclasses like the college of creation bard and astral self monk, and a class themed around crafting magical objects, the artificer. (Though the artificer previously appeared in Eberron: Rising from the Last War, a setting book detailing a pulp fantasy magitech world that I skipped because it includes halflings who ride dinosaurs and one of my players flat-out vetoed that as “just too silly”.)

When D&D’s 5th edition got its big rules update last year, the 2024 Player’s Handbook included revised versions of all the RPG’s base classes—your fighters and wizards and so on—but not the artificer. The one class that’s all about giving you cool things to do that aren’t themed around directly taking hit points away from bad guys will get its turn though in Eberron: Forge of the Artificer, a new supplement coming out in August.

Forge of the Artificer will include four updated subclasses for the artificer, plus a whole new one: the cartographer, who uses magical maps to keep track of what’s going on around them, and can use those maps to target characters who are hidden or beyond their normal range. With scouting and exploration as its focuses, the cartographer sounds a bit like a cross between an artificer and a ranger in the same way that other subclasses let you borrow a little bit of another class without becoming a full multiclassing sicko—like the way the arcane trickster gets to be a rogue who is also a bit of a wizard.

The supplement will also include updated rules for player options like being one of the mechanical warpforged, 28 feats including ones representing the Dragonmarks that are another unique bit of Eberron Lore, 18 backgrounds, 20 monsters, and a bunch of spells, magic items, and bastions using the new rules from the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide.

Eberron: Forge of the Artificer will be out on August 19 and is up for preorder now in physical and digital versions, with a bundle that includes both as well as a set of artificer-themed digital dice to use in DND Beyond.

Hideo Kojima says Death Stranding 2 has so much tactical espionage action that even his own staff ‘worried it was getting a little Metal Gear-ish’

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is due for release on PlayStation 5 in June, and let’s hope it doesn’t take eight months to come across to PC this time. Creator and director Hideo Kojima has just done a big interview with IGN to accompany some preview coverage, within which he just cannot stop with the Metal Gear comparisons.

This has been a notable element of Death Stranding 2’s marketing, even. The release of a 10 minute long trailer (yes, really) in March made the Metal Gear links overt, with new character Neil giving us a new version of Snake’s bandana-tying, and a mech unmistakably reminiscent of Metal Gear Rex.

To be clear, Metal Gear remains a Konami property and none of these references or echoes are in any way official: but it does feel very much that Kojima, having firmly established himself and Kojima Productions, is now much more comfortable with his own legacy. To the extent that, when explaining the differences between Death Stranding and its sequel, he immediately reaches for the leap between Metal Gear Solid and its own sequel.

“I’d like to ask you to think back to the beginning of Metal Gear Solid,” Kojima told IGN. “No weapons appear at first, and you only acquire them after going up the elevator. Placing weapons at the very start will cause players to pick them up and start killing enemies, so we consciously decided to not do that. But that part turned out to be unpopular, with some people saying they couldn’t get up the elevator.

“Still, we had to design Metal Gear Solid so that players learned how stealth works. For Metal Gear Solid 2, we made it a little easier to use weapons and aim at specific parts using a POV angle, as many players were already aware of stealth games.

“It was the same for Death Stranding. There aren’t many games about delivery, so we had to get people accustomed to it first. For the sequel, we wanted to allow players that want to fight to do so more freely. Players can use weapons, and it’s now easier to drive cars and motorcycles. For the story, the first game was about Sam and Cliff, but this time one of the main themes is Lou and what her existence means.”

Lou is the Breach Baby or “BB” that Sam carries around in the first game, though here she’s now more toddler age. It is interesting Kojima picks out the vehicles: Death Stranding actually allows you to access a motorbike relatively quickly, though that brings its own traversal challenges. I thought the first game hit a nice balance of vehicles having real utility while also not trivialising how you get across the map, and I’ll be curious to see if the sequel still manages to make the walking as impactful as it could feel in the first game.

Death Stranding 2

(Image credit: Kojima Productions)

Another open world element that casts Kojima’s thoughts back to bygone times is the day and night cycle, though here the comparison comes from the very end of the Metal Gear series and the stupendously good Phantom Pain.

“We did [a day/night cycle] in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain as well, but I wanted to properly include the passage of time in an open world,” says Kojima. “Gazing at the sky as the sun rises and sets is something that couldn’t been done in the first game, in part due to engine-related reasons, but it’s been put into the sequel.”

Kojima goes on to discuss some specifics of lighting changes and his desire to control exactly how specific scenes look rubbing up against the dynamism of this system (“this is a game, not a movie”).

“We also included the option to go to bed and wait for the morning before leaving,” finishes Kojima. “This is something we’ve been sure to include because I imagine there will be players that don’t want to travel at night. Metal Gear Solid 5 had a system where you could smoke to advance time, but this game does it in more natural ways, like going back to bed in a private room after waking up once.”

I don’t think you could get more natural than the Phantom Cigar, which always made me smile thanks to its “woooah-oooh” music and fast-forward effects, but good to know anyway that we’ll have some control over when we do things in Death Stranding 2. Finally we come to what looks to be the biggest distinction between this and the original game, which is the emphasis on combat.

“It’s not that I’m simply pushing combat,” says Kojima. “The game is still fundamentally about cargo delivery, but combat has become more flexible. Some of the staff on Death Stranding 2 worked with me on the Metal Gear series, so there were times when people worried that it was getting a little Metal Gear-ish. My personal explanation for it is that we simply pursued more enjoyable combat. This is actually connected to the theme of ‘we should not have connected.'”

Erm… so even Kojima’s own staff thought it was getting a little bit too much like Metal Gear, but he just thinks that’s because it’s “enjoyable.” Well OK! I mean, MGS5’s probably some of the most fun I’ve ever had in an open world combat game, so bring it on. Kojima also adds that, while stealth is an important element of the game, “that doesn’t mean that you will be forced into stealth: I don’t even use stealth myself.”

Death Stranding 2

(Image credit: Kojima Productions)

Finally I found myself rather amused by the fact that Kojima himself didn’t fully engage with the Social Strand System of the first game, which refers to the semi-persistent building that players can engage in across the landscape. I love the idea of this and used it a little to create many smaller elements in the world, but when it came to larger projects like the giant highways I left it to others and just contributed the odd bundle of resources.

“When I play the game myself, I use ladders and make bridges, but I don’t build any of the highways; I just use what someone else made,” says Kojima. “That’s why I was concerned if people would really make roads themselves when the game came out, but it turned out that a lot of people did nothing but that. That was a pleasant surprise for me. I wanted to make sure that the sequel would have more interesting things to do for those players as well. The monorail is one such element.”

Death Stranding 2 really does sound like it could be something special. My love for Kojima’s games is no secret, and seeing him once again return to the rich vein of ideas that ran through Metal Gear feels like a long-overdue homecoming. It felt like the acrimonious nature of his split from Konami and the director going solo left him a little fearful of being too explicit about his legacy the first time around, but make no mistake: Hideo Kojima was and will always be Mr. Metal Gear.

We’ll have to wait and see how that manifests in the full experience when Death Stranding 2: On the Beach makes its way to PC. But I’m happy to say one thing right now. Good to have you back, Boss.

The new GTA 6 trailer draws on base PS5 footage

The new Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer is graphically impressive in a way videogame trailers generally aren’t anymore. That’s to be expected: Rockstar has more resources than any other studio in the world, and nowadays, the graphics arms race favours studios with loads of money, time, and talent at their disposal rather than just, say, one smart programmer. As a result, finer details that other studios don’t have time to make sing—such as beer bottles—really stand out. The culmination of all these touches makes the GTA 6 trailer look decidedly next-gen, but actually, it’s running on a base PS5.

“Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 2 was captured entirely in-game from a PlayStation 5, comprised of equal parts gameplay and cutscenes,” Rockstar Games posted on X earlier today.

GTA 6 is only confirmed for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X at this point, so it’s probably no surprise that the footage is derived from what will be the lead platform. Still, I half-expected the footage to be running on a PS5 Pro. Or even a PC, even though the PC version doesn’t exist as far as Rockstar is concerned.

It’s worth remembering that GTA 5 first launched for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2013. That’s kind of shocking in retrospect, but the game was perfectly playable on those antiquated consoles, and the inevitable next-gen versions for Xbox One and PS4 weren’t seismic improvements. The game’s PC launch was different, though: not only did it finally support framerates higher than an occasionally ropey 30 fps, but we also got higher resolution, an in-game video and image editor, and mods.

GTA 6 probably won’t hit PC until 2027 at this rate—the console version got delayed to 2026 this week—but when it does, it’ll likely be sumptuous.

I really don’t want to cosplay as Darth Vader in Destiny 2, so I’m even more queasy about the announcement of whole Star Wars-themed expansion

Let me state from the start that I don’t like fictional universe crossovers. Whether it’s a Magic The Gathering set themed around Doctor Who or riding a Chocobo in Assassin’s Creed Origins, if it involves smushing two entirely different universes together, I’m not into it. I feel the same way about melding worlds as I do fusion cuisine: Just because you can smush two independently great things together, very much does not mean that you should.

Which brings me to today, and Bungie’s livestreamed infosplosion detailing what to expect from the next year of expansions and updates in Destiny 2. The major news is covered in the link above, but the topic that everyone’s discussing in the aftermath is, weirdly, Star Wars.

Destiny has already dallied Lucasfilm, releasing a set of (paid, of course) Stormtrooper-themed armor skins alongside the Heresy episode. I could just about accept that, if I squinted and pretended I couldn’t see half a platoon of the Empire’s finest emoting in the tower, because Destiny has done gear crossovers with other games before.

God of War, The Witcher, and Assassin’s Creed (because Ubisoft really does love this stuff) have all appeared in Destiny 2 as paid armor skins, but those sets took inspiration from the source material, whereas the Star Wars stuff looks close to 1:1 copies. And as of today it got even crazier.

Dark Side Legends Armor Ornament Bundle | Destiny 2: Year of Prophecy Ultimate Edition – YouTube

If you pre-order the Destiny 2: Year of Prophecy Ultimate Edition (for a mere $99), you will immediately receive a basket of digital goodies, including a set of three Star Wars ‘Dark Side Legends’ skins, which will enable you to dress as eye-wateringly accurate facsimiles of Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, and General Grievous.

Yes, that Darth Vader. And no, I don’t think those Titan-style shoulder pads are working for him.

Now, before I open fire with a blaster under the table, a couple of caveats: 1) I have a Star Wars-loving clanmate who is more excited about this than any of the other announcements today, and could not care less about in-universe accuracy. 2) If I am being completely candid I did buy the Stormtrooper set, because I love creating Destiny fashion and the hoodless hunter cloak is superb.

It doesn’t so much feel like the thin end of a very commercial wedge as it does lobbing a brick through the art team’s window.

And look, if the Vader and Kylo outfits were all that was happening, I could probably make my peace with it. Just try to ignore the multiple Sith Lords in my raid group in the same way I’ve had to pretend those stupid mini sparrows weren’t a thing as part of my strict head canon. After all, Bungie desperately needs Destiny to keep making money, and these things clearly sell like Ewok cakes.

Destiny 2: Renegades | Teaser Trailer – YouTube

What I can’t yet wrap my head around though, is that Bungie also announced that the December expansion, which is called Renegades, is going to be entirely themed around Star Wars. We’re talking lightsabers, blasters, speeders and a dusty planet that looks very much like Tatooine.

Now, let the record state that this doesn’t mean the action takes place literally in the Star Wars universe. This is still just billed as ‘inspired by’. But in terms of maintaining the integrity of Destiny’s own setting, it doesn’t so much feel like the thin end of a very commercial wedge as it does lobbing a brick through the art team’s window.

That’s what I think is making me feel so uneasy about all this: Destiny is a game, which over a decade and many thousands of hours, I have loved intensely, sometimes to a fault. And whatever you might think about the studio’s mistakes or failings in that time, the universe has always been brilliantly drawn, from iconic imagery like The Traveller hanging in low orbit over earth, to the brilliance of the Guardians being essentially warmongering zombies that the other races are terrified of. Hell, Destiny’s own alien factions—Hive, Fallen, Cabal—are interesting enough to warrant writing reams of lore about.

And now what, we’re just going to dump a bucket of George Lucas in there and call it good?

If this is the Faustian pact required to keep the lights on at Bungie I guess I’ll suck it up.

More than anything it feels disrespectful to what the studio itself has created. I imagine plenty of people inside Bungie have serious reservations about playing quite so fast and loose with their universe. But I guess it’s also a sign of how dire times must be if this kind of nuclear option is required to balance the books. Ultimately, the money men will have done the calculus and concluded that for every player Star Wars turns off, there will be more waiting to ring the register.

Ultimately I do get it. I might not be a Star Wars guy—beyond the original trilogy, Andor and maybe some of The Mandalorian I really can take it or leave it—but lightsabers are cool and if this is the Faustian pact required to keep the lights on at Bungie I guess I’ll suck it up.

Even my non-Destiny playing colleagues have been rolling their eyes in disbelief at this collab, calling it another step in the Fortnitification of all service games. And I get that too. But if you were hoping that this would be the straw that broke the chocobo’s back, and I would be dramatically abandoning the game, well, no chance.

I’ve long made my peace that I will be there on the last day as the servers go dark. Just don’t expect me to be wearing Han Solo’s trousers.

Deadlock goes full second breakfast by having another, secret playtest tucked inside the first one—with all-new heroes and a redesign of everyone’s favourite gargoyle gal

If you’re at all familiar with Deadlock, you might remember some hullabaloo about its ‘open secret’ status during early testing. Valve’s new MOBA/shooter was kept very much under wraps, with the company playing coy right up until the finish line. Even now, it’s still invite-only. Why? Beats me, since getting a pass to go play isn’t really hard.

Valve really likes its secret playtest servers, though, as a top Deadlock streamer by the name of Deathy accidentally popped open the wrong client while on Stream. They quickly deleted it, mind, but the internet is forever, and players with a quickdraw print-screen snapped some images (via Eurogamer).

An accidentally-leaked image of Deadlock's upcoming roster. — (Image credit: Valve – DeathyDL on Twitch)

What those images reveal is that Deadlock now has a second, more secret playtest tucked inside the first one. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a third, even more occult playtest you had to access by blending and drinking a piece of Gabe Newell’s yacht, or something. How far down does this thing go?

In terms of revelations, there’s a bunch of great-looking heroes to look forward to: The Scholarly-looking “Bookworm”, a straight-up bellboy “Doorman”, and the “Drifter”, who is smiling at me in a way that better not awaken anything in the darker parts of my soul.

There’s also apparently a second Lash dubbed Skyrunner—likely just placeholder art. In fact, some of the thumbnails for existing heroes are completely different. Abram’s grown some stubble, McGinnis has traded her welding mask for a Rosie the Riveter-style bandanna, and Ivy is suddenly, uh, less scrungly.

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Ivy from Deadlock. — Old…(Image credit: Valve)

In case you’re unfamiliar, Ivy is a gargoyle gal from Deadlock who quickly became a fan favourite and the subject of much fanart, thanks to her sweet personality and appeal to—let’s call them ‘monster girl appreciators’. Some of the art is tasteful and impressively-rendered, other pieces are… less tasteful, and still somehow impressively rendered. No judgement here, artists gotta make a living.

A constant through-line of this fanart was that Ivy was rendered in a cuter, more cartoon style, while her in-game model’s a lot crunchier-looking. Well, this test server sees her undergoing some major stonework surgery, taking a chisel to her fangs, bringing her eyes more central to her face, and giving her big, floppy ears.

She’s definitely more appealing, but I can’t help but feel like some of the magic’s been lost—players fawning over a hunchbacked goblin creature with a heart of gold felt somehow more pure than this made-for-market Ivy. Still, this is a test server for a reason, and nothing about the above can be considered final. Even the main game’s unrecognisable from when I last played it—the work is, ostensibly, in progress.

Today’s Wordle answer for Tuesday, May 6

Sail straight through to a nice, clean, winning row of green letters with our easily accessed answer to the May 6 (1417) Wordle if you’re in the mood for a quick win. And if you’re in the mood for a longer session, we can still help. We’ve got general tips ready to check out, as well as a clue for today’s puzzle too.

I learned a lot today. I wish what I’d learned hadn’t been ‘this particular combination of green letters has way more valid possible answers than either I realised or I had rows to poke around with’ but here we are. Still, that’s all part of the fun, isn’t it? To see four green letters and still not be sure what’s going to happen next. That’s what I’m telling myself, anyway.

Today’s Wordle hint

Wordle today: A hint for Tuesday, May 6

Connection is key today. A furniture set. A series of interconnected hotel rooms. Several pieces of music designed to be played together.

Is there a double letter in Wordle today?

No, there is not a double letter in today’s puzzle.

Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day

A good starting word can be the difference between victory and defeat with the daily puzzle, but once you’ve got the basics, it’s much easier to nail down those Wordle wins. And as there’s nothing quite like a small victory to set you up for the rest of the day, here are a few tips to help set you on the right path:

A good opening guess should contain a mix of unique consonants and vowels.
Narrow down the pool of letters quickly with a tactical second guess.
Watch out for letters appearing more than once in the answer.

There’s no racing against the clock with Wordle so you don’t need to rush for the answer. Treating the game like a casual newspaper crossword can be a good tactic; that way, you can come back to it later if you’re coming up blank. Stepping away for a while might mean the difference between a win and a line of grey squares.

Today’s Wordle answer

Wordle answer

(Image credit: Future)

What is today’s Wordle answer?

A little help. The answer to the May 6 (1417) Wordle is SUITE.

Previous Wordle 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 answers:

May 5: SHUSH
May 4: TROUT
May 3: PATSY
May 2: WHOSE
May 1: ADEPT
April 30: IDLER
April 29: BLISS
April 28: DUMMY
April 27: WEEDY
April 26: CLASH

Learn more about Wordle

Today's Wordle being played on a phone

(Image credit: Nurphoto via Getty)

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 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.

Your second guess should compliment the starting word, using another “good” word to cover any common letters you missed last time while also trying to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn’t present in today’s answer. With a bit of luck, you should have some coloured squares to work with and set you on the right path.

After that, it’s just a case of using what you’ve learned to narrow your guesses down to the right word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words (so no filling the boxes with EEEEE to see if there’s an E). Don’t forget letters can repeat too (ex: BOOKS).

If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips, 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, 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, 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. Surely it’s only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes.

Space Marine 2’s Astartes Overhaul mod brings Terminators to the campaign, NPC Dreadnoughts to operations, and 12-player lobbies

Space Marine 2 might not have landed quite as surely as some of us hoped (see Robin Valentine’s rather mixed review), but it looks like a game that can take a hit and keep on trucking. Ever since release, there’s been a dedicated scene of 40k fans tweaking, tuning and adding extra cosmetic gubbins to the game, but most projects pale in comparison to the Astartes Overhaul, an ongoing ‘lore accurate’ mega-mod by the Astartes Team that adds new classes, weapon and cosmetics as well as comprehensively reworking the post-campaign Operations mode.

While this mod has been around and kicking for a while, it just rolled out one of its most significant updates yet, featuring two more classes, cross-class customization options, an experimental 12-player mode (this mod is fully multiplayer compatible, so long as all players are running the same version) and even a first taste of Terminator power armor, for when absolutely every Tyranid in the room needs to die right now.

While not quite ready for multiplayer prime-time, version 7.2 does include a first peek at playable Terminator armor, available via the campaign mode in this current release. The super-sized power armor works exactly how you’d expect, judging by the gameplay clip below from Iron Gaming 40k, with storm bolters providing plenty of dakka and the power fist looking very capable of smashing through almost anything. They’ve not yet implemented the iconic multi-barreled Assault Cannon as a heavy weapon, but word is that it’s high on the mod crew’s priorities, and I cannot wait to take it for a test-drive.

NEW TERMINATOR GAMEPLAY! – Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 (4K, Mod) – YouTube NEW TERMINATOR GAMEPLAY! - Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 (4K, Mod) - YouTube

This update also adds Chaplain and Apothecary classes with support-focused skills, a bundle of new weapons and variants, new models for old gear and the option to ground pound and shield bash with every weapon. Generally, the mod also increases the scale of battles. Bigger swarms, enemies with less health but doing more damage, and smarter, more capable AI allies. NPC allies pop up more often as well, and are more varied, so don’t be surprised if the occasional named story NPC, imperial guard squad or even a whole-ass Dreadnought decides to wade into the fight on an operation.

What really surprises me is that all of this is already possible while the game is still in flux. Saber Interactive (who have given their blessing to the overhaul already, per an interview with IGN) are actively updating the game, with a major update in mid-April adding a new mission, a new boss fight and a new weapon. That content has already been subsumed into the Astertes Overhaul, with players able to pick a fight against the new Trygon boss as a squad of Nurgle’s finest, if that so tickles your fancy.

And there’s plenty more in the pipeline. The Astartes team are working on new game modes (including prop hunt, of all things) and raid-style bosses that might just put those 12-player squads to the test. If this is what’s possible before the cement is done drying, and with full online multiplayer support already, then I can see Space Marine 2 having very long legs once Saber have fully moved on to whatever their next big project is.

You can grab the Astartes Overhaul here on Nexus Mods, and installation is as simple as unzipping it to your Space Marine 2 directory. The game will automatically limit you to private lobbies, and you’ll be free to either play solo or invite players to your battle barge if they’re running the same version. It won’t even mess with your save files—uninstalling the mod will revert your progress back to how it was pre installation.

This Doom themed Harley Davidson is the most metal game collab I’ve seen since The Dark Ages

In what may be the most metal crossover ever, Bethesda has teamed up with Harley Davidson in creating an incredible one of a kind Doom motorcycle. The bike takes its inspiration from next in the hellishly good series, Doom, in this case, Doom: The Dark Ages; A medieval take on the demonic devastation of Earth. While it’s a slightly confusing premise, the resulting one-of-a-kind ride is one I’d happily rip and tear for.

The Sportster S motorcycle decked out in Doom livery is probably the coolest motorbike I’ve ever seen, which is an achievement given the inherent coolness of motorcycles. The whole thing has been crafted in collaboration with artists at id Software and as such it absolutely oozes Doom- though hopefully not out of the fuel tank. Really, a motorbike might be the perfect companion for a game that has “the best gore in the industry”.

The custom dash has been themed around Serrat, the new mechanised Dragon from Doom: The Dark Ages. Serrat’s gaping maw is positioned around the front headlight giving an incredible firebreathing aesthetic to this Sportster S. Other portions of the Bike feature armour from the game, runes, and even custom LEDs.

Some of these lights are positioned at the ground to give the appearance of dragons wings as you ride, which might be one of the most badass bike accessories I’ve ever heard of. Plus the glowing red wheels look just like themed PC fans. Obviously all this RGB lighting is how you can tell it’s a gamer bike, not the large Doom: The Dark Ages logo on the side.

“Creating this DOOM: The Dark Ages motorcycle with the support of Harley-Davidson is truly a match made in Hell,” said Simon Alty, VP and Managing Director (APAC) at Bethesda Softworks. “The iconic motorcycle brand is renowned for its power and style, much like our legendary DOOM Slayer. What better way to celebrate the launch of the latest DOOM instalment than with an incredibly powerful mecha-dragon motorcycle. We’re thrilled for all the fans to witness this mythical beast brought to life”.

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The Doom themed collaboration between Harley Davidson and Bethesda — (Image credit: Bethesda ANZ)

Of course, it’s important to be as safe as possible while riding this demon bike from hell, so safety gear is a must. To make sure you don’t look too out of place or become a temporary citizen, the collab includes a themed jacket and helmet. These are surprisingly low-key compared to the motorcycle, both in all black with goth spikes. The leather jacket has a very fluffy black neck rough, while the helmet keeps it cool, shaped notably after the DOOM aesthetic with a red visor and spike-hawk. All to make sure you slay with your outfit as well as your crossbow BFG.

There’s no denying this is the most metal PC gaming collab I’ve ever seen, but the truly brutal part is availability. It’ll be even harder to get than this Doom-themed Asus RTX 5080.

This is a one-of-a-kind bike, and the only way to get it is to drop by the Doom: The Dark Ages launch event being held at Culture Kings on George Street, Sydney Australia on Friday 16th May 2025 from 7pm-9pm AEST. Those who manage to attend will have a shot at winning the bike as well as joining in with the other launch festivities. Psst, Aussies should also look here for the cheapest copies of Doom: The Dark Ages.

With Doom: The Dark Ages set to launch in less than a week now on May 13, you don’t have long to wait before you can give the new melee-heavy parry-focused game style a try. Being a big fan of Eternal myself, I’m sad to see the acrobatics go, but very excited to rip and tear medieval style, even if I won’t ever have a motorcycle this cool to do it on.

‘You can’t escape us’: Devolver plots to release a game on GTA 6’s release date, no matter when that is

While every other publisher runs from the new GTA 6 release date, Devolver Digital is determined to have its own ‘Doom Crossing’ moment.

This weekend, Devolver shared a post on X in response to the Grand Theft Auto 6 release date announcement, with the ominous message, “You can’t escape us. May 26, 2026 it is then.”

This challenge was a follow-up to a post from back in March where Devolver casually vowed, “Gonna release a game the exact same day and time as GTA 6.”

Devolver hasn’t yet announced what game it’ll be pitting against GTA 6. The publisher is known for its irreverent industry stunts, but there could be something to the plan if it finds the same mutually-beneficial hype experienced by Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom Eternal on March 20, 2020.

That shared release date was notable for the comical contrast—as with movies Barbie and Oppenheimer—so whatever Devolver lands on will likely be a wildly different game from GTA 6.

Devolver has published some spectacular indie games, including Cult of the Lamb, Death’s Door, The Talos Principle, Gris, and The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood. If anyone can successfully launch an indie game on the same day as GTA6, it’s probably them.

The mystery upcoming game destined for GTA 6’s new May 26, 2026 release date could be almost anything. We know Enter the Gungeon 2 is slated for a 2026 release, although Hotline Miami 3 might be a more theme-appropriate candidate (however, a third installment in the series has yet to be announced).

The situation could get especially spicy if GTA 6 gets delayed again, allowing Devolver to either release its game on time and brag or delay it unnecessarily to stay true to its word.

At the very least, Devolver might get a good showing from PC gamers, since GTA 6 likely won’t even be on PC on launch day.