DON’T NOD is perhaps best known for creating the Life is Strange series. That said, the team have since moved on, instead working on new IPs while present and future LiS titles are handled by Deck Nine. In an interesting situation, DON’T NOD have now delayed their next game to 2025 due to the clashing release of the upcoming Life is Strange: Double Exposure.

Making the announcement via a press release, the French company stated the following:

“DON'T NOD, an independent studio that creates, develops, and publishes video games, today announces a new release window of the highly anticipated narrative adventure Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, from the creative minds behind Life is Strange. Originally scheduled for release in late 2024, this new IP will now be available early 2025.”

Going more in-depth as to why the game has been delayed, Oskar Guilbert – CEO at DON'T NOD – put it pretty plainly:

“We know that many of our fans are eagerly awaiting this game, just as they are the recently announced next installment of Life is Strange. Let's give both titles the space they need to be enjoyed by our players within the large community we have built.”

Given the history DON'T NOD have with the Life is Strange games, it is a nice gesture to see their own upcoming game being pushed back to allow fans the time and space to return to the world of Life is Strange.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the decision? Are you pleased by it? Which of the two games were you more looking forward to? Let us know down below.

The post DON’T NOD delays upcoming game due to Life is Strange first appeared on KitGuru.

Humble Bundles are a great way for players to get their hands on a ‘bundle’ of games for a heavily discounted price. In celebration of this year’s Summer Games Done Quick charity event, Humble are offering a rather enticing SGDQ bundle.

Available to purchase for the next two weeks, the Summer Games Done Quick 2024 Bundle features titles which will be speedrun during the charity event. As always, the bundle is available in 3 forms. Paying £9.49 will net you:

• Dishonored
• Hyperbolica
• Blazing Chrome

Upping your contribution to £11.86 adds the following:

• Morrowind GOTY Edition
• Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore

Finally, paying the full £15.81 will get you all the previous games plus:

• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2
• Pennys Big Breakaway

For the uninitiated, Penny’s Big Breakaway is an excellent 3D platformer from the Sonic Mania team, featuring unique mechanics, inventive levels and a whole lot more – and is worth the asking price of the bundle alone.

As always, a portion of the bundle’s proceeds will be going to charity, with this bundle supporting Doctors Without Borders: “an international, independent medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural and man-made disasters, and exclusion from health care in nearly 70 countries.”

KitGuru says: What do you think of the bundle? Will you be picking it up? Are you going to watch this year’s SGDQ? Let us know down below.

The post SGDQ Humble Bundle includes a bunch of neat games first appeared on KitGuru.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 has been a surprise hit for Capcom, with the sequel to the 2012 action-RPG having already sold over 2.5 million copies since its release back in March. If you have yet to hop into the world of Dragon’s Dogma 2 however, a free trial is currently live.

Making the announcement on their website, the team at Capcom said “Venture forth and get a taste of adventure set within a fantasy world! Play Dragon's Dogma 2 free for up to two hours during this campaign,” adding that “save data from the free trial can be used with the full version of the game.”

The free trial can be played across all available platforms (PS5, Xbox and PC), however will only be live for the next few weeks – running until the 17/18th of July.

Those interested in trying out Dragon’s Dogma 2 can also benefit further from the game’s character creator which was released as a standalone product ahead of the game’s launch.

As such, it is worth first using the character creator and taking your time in doing so, then hopping into the two-hour trial once you are happy with the final results – to maximise the amount of available play time.

KitGuru says: What do you think of timed trials? Are they preferable to demos? Do you own the game already? Let us know down below.

The post Dragon’s Dogma 2 gets free 2 hour game trial first appeared on KitGuru.

Satisfactory is a popular first-person open-world factory building game which was first released in early access back in 2020. Since then, the game has seen a bunch of updates and upgrades – bringing ray-tracing support with the game’s Unreal Engine 5 update and more. Ahead of Satisfactory’s 1.0 launch, the team have announced an upcoming price increase.

Making the announcement via YouTube, the team at Coffee Stain Studios said “We promised to let you know in advance if we were going to change the price of the game and here we are!” revealing that following the game’s 1.0 launch, Satisfactory will be going up in price from $29.99 to $39.99.

That said, you still have plenty of opportunities to get the game for much less, as Satisfactory is currently on sale for 50% off of the original asking price, meaning it has gone down from £27.99 to just £13.99.

Having been in development since 2016, it is an exciting moment to know that Satisfactory will soon be out of its Early Access period. Now is the best time to check the game out if you have yet to do so.

KitGuru says: Are you excited for the 1.0 release? Do you already own Satisfactory? Is the price hike justified? Let us know down below.

The post Satisfactory to get price hike following 1.0 launch first appeared on KitGuru.

Ever since I got a hold of my PS5 on launch day back in late 2020 I have been enamoured with the DualSense controller. Among all the various boosts to teraflops and increased SSD speeds touted by the PS5, the evolution from the DualShock 4 to the DualSense is in my opinion the single most impactful aspect of Sony’s current-gen console.

The addition of brand new precise haptics alongside Adaptive Triggers (in combination with all the prior innovations seen with older PlayStation controllers), makes for an in-hand feeling which can only be had on PlayStation…sort of. Those wanting to truly unlock the potential of the DualSense – even far beyond the capabilities of the PS5 itself – can do so on PC thanks to the Steam application DSX.

Before going into all that, I want to first briefly touch on the capabilities of the DualSense when connected to the PS5. Of course, the extent of its application is limited by the developers themselves. The hardware doesn’t change from game to game, but the way the hardware’s used is. Most of Sony’s first-party releases make maximal use of the DualSense, with carefully considered haptics, immersive implementations of the adaptive triggers with some even managing to give the triggers multiple functions. All this is done seamlessly and helps not only to immerse players in the word further, but can even allow for an increased level of awareness – especially useful in fast-paced titles.

Many 3rd-party developers have also made pretty good use of the DualSense, with the likes of the Call of Duty series in particular using the controller’s unique features to make each weapon feel different in use. That said, for many games it remains a gamble as to whether the DualSense will be utilised as intended. Some make use of the triggers, but not the haptics, others do the opposite. Some even barely utilise any of the functions at all – making for a much more static-feeling experience.

Using the DualSense on PC is an even bigger gamble. While every PS5 game on the console supports the DualSense to at least some degree, a large majority of PC titles don’t even recognise the controller at all, leading to players necessarily downloading some type of middleware software, emulating a DualShock 4 or even an Xbox 360 controller in order for the game to recognise the peripheral. One of the most popular programs for this is DS4Windows. I myself used this program for quite some time – with very few complaints – however everything changed when I discovered DSX.

Developed by Paliverse, this Steam application is much newer when compared to the likes of DS4Windows, but is arguably much more powerful when used correctly. The primary selling point of DSX is that unlike DS4Windows, the former has been developed specifically with the DualSense and all its features in mind. 

Using DSX allows you to pretty much unlock all the features of the DualSense for use however you please. Of course, you can simply connect to the software to run the controller natively, or you can emulate an Xbox 360 controller, Dualshock 4, or a DualSense (for games which refuse to recognise the controller in its native mode).

Regardless of which mode you select, all the DualSense features remain available for you to use and tweak as you please. So, what are these features? Well, in looking at the triggers first, there is of course the option to allow for passthrough – meaning if the game uses the adaptive triggers, you’ll experience it as intended. As mentioned however, most PC games do not, and even then, some that do have in my opinion missed the mark. As such, whenever I am playing a game on PC, with very few exceptions, there’s a high chance that I have the GameCube triggers activated.

Yes, DSX includes a ton of different trigger profiles – almost two dozen in fact – all of which can be customised further to your liking. You’ve got profiles which mimic gun triggers; bow and arrows; machine guns; horse galloping and many more. Last but certainly not least, there's the GameCube mode, which genuinely makes the DualSense Triggers feel almost exactly like those of the classic GameCube. It’s become my default setting, and going back to resistance-free triggers feels as though something is genuinely broken with the controller.

Of course, this is just my preference, but the beauty of DSX is that you can tweak all the parameters exactly how you want it – from the starting position to its end, resistance strength, snap force and more, making the triggers feel literally however you please.

By far the biggest trick up DSX’s sleeve however is the way it is able to use and abuse the DualSense’s advanced haptics. I’ve talked at length in the past on the impact of the DualSense’s haptic feedback across multiple games, from Returnal to Ghost of Tsushima and more. Each of these games use the tech differently, but to equally impressive results. As mentioned however most games don’t, especially on PC, and so what ends up happening is the DualSense simply uses its haptics to emulate the basic rumble of an older controller – taking a great deal away from the overall experience.

DSX offers multiple solutions to this problem. You can of course use the DualSense to merely mimic old-school rumble if you want, but there also exists an option which takes the less precise rumble data and translates it for the DualSense’s haptic motor, offering much tighter and precise-feeling vibrations. It works surprisingly well for almost all games, and has become my default setting when using the DualSense on my PC.

If you’re feeling extra spicy however, you can enable a number of other odd-yet-appreciated configurations, namely button to haptics; triggers to haptics and even joystick to haptics. Each of these (rumble to haptics included) allow for complete customisation and control, with you able to adjust the soundwave configuration in half a dozen different patterns as well as controlling the frequency and gain of the sound profiles – letting you create the exact haptic experience you desire.

Perhaps the most surprising and impactful mode however is the audio-to-haptics. While it may be overstimulating for some (depending on the game), enabling this mode can make for an all-encompassing haptic experience like no other. Essentially, this mode takes the audio source of your choice and directly translates it into haptic feedback via the DualSense – in many ways acting like a subwoofer. This of course is also fully tweakable, being able to adjust the intensity of each motor to your liking. As mentioned, translating the full audioscape into haptics can be a bit intense for some games, but for the ones in which it works…WOW.

Elden Ring is a great game – hardly a controversial statement. With or without DSX, the game would be just as excellent of course. That being said, when I launched Elden Ring for the first time while using the audio to haptics mode and the main menu music began to swell up, culminating in epic chants and big band instruments, it felt as though I was in a theatre, feeling the bass within my own body. Never has a main menu made me so excited to play a game, but thanks to DSX’s audio to haptics I was completely engrossed and in many ways blown away.

Elden Ring actually represents an excellent use case for the audio to haptics mode as beyond the main menu itself, traversing the world keeps most music muted, meaning your controller won’t start giving you pins and needles from all the vibrations. What’s more, the slick sound design of all the weapons translate perfectly into haptics, with the swing of a sword feeling genuinely sharp in hand. It’s hard to describe exactly how it feels when playing, but the immersion is in many ways incomparable.

While the triggers and haptics are the main selling points, DSX is a well-rounded application as a whole, offering control over all of the DualSense’s other functions, including the LED lights; gyroscope; speaker; mic; button remapping; touchpad customisation; deadzone adjustments and even a special menu for those with the DualSense Edge / PSVR2 controllers. Additionally, all of these settings can be tweaked for each game, applying different profiles depending on the title you are playing. It is also worth noting that despite being a Steam app, DSX works across all launchers/platforms, so compatibility shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

Finally, I must address the elephant in the room. Unlike DS4Windows, DSX is a paid application, costing £6.69, plus a couple extra quid for access to the beta version. Given the fact that DS4Windows already exists and works with the DualSense (albeit differently), DSX might sound like a tough sell, but in my opinion, the transformative experience which can be had thanks to the likes of audio-to-haptics and rumble-to-haptics is worth any asking price – and with constant and consistent updates, the DualSense Experience (DSX) just keeps getting better and better.

If you haven’t been a believer of the DualSense up till now, DSX will make you believe.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Have you heard of DSX? Do you own a DualSense controller? Which of the haptic modes are you most interested in trying? Let us know down below.

The post KitGuru Games: DSX – Unlocking the FULL power of DualSense on PC first appeared on KitGuru.

You will be pleased to learn that we did indeed get together on Wednesday night (at 10 Eastern) to podcast this week. Here is the edited version of that podcast recording session. …

💾

Forza Motorsport has unfortunately not hit in the way Microsoft were hoping – not helped by the fact that the final product appeared visually downgraded from its pre-release material. Though RTGI has yet to make its way into the game, some subtle visual tweaks were discovered in Motorsport’s latest patch.

As discovered by MotoGamesTV, the most recent ‘update 9.0’ for Forza Motorsport seems to have stealthily included some visual tweaks which were absent from the patch notes.

Based on the comparison, players have deduced that the update introduces improvements to the overall colour grading and contrast; better atmospheric scattering as well as sky rendering changes.

As mentioned, the much-advertised and long-promised ray-traced global illumination is still nowhere to be seen. Still, an improvement is an improvement.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Did you notice the changes? How big of a difference is it to you? Let us know down below.

The post Forza Motorsport gets stealth visuals boost in latest patch first appeared on KitGuru.

Valve has been on a spree recently, updating many of its services while giving others a facelift. Following the Steam Families revamp and the just-announced Steam Screen Recording function, Valve’s Steam Charts page has just gotten a new section.

Making the announcement on Twitter, the official Steam Deck page revealed that “We just shipped a new Steam Charts page featuring the top-played games on Steam Deck. This list is updated daily, and you can explore the top 100 games on Deck by week, month, or year.”

Valve had been highly proactive when it came to sharing Steam Deck player charts, but being able to check it out yourself at any point is welcome.

Unsurprisingly, in going to the Steam Deck Top 100, Elden Ring is currently the most-played game – followed by Stardew Valley; Balatro; Baldur’s Gate 3 and Kingdom Hearts.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: How much do you game on Steam Deck? Do you care about charts like these? What’s been your most-played Deck game over the past week? Let us know down below.

The post Valve adds new Steam Deck section to ‘Top Played’ charts first appeared on KitGuru.

Ubisoft has made it well known that it plans to go all out on Assassin’s Creed over the coming years, with almost a dozen games in the works and a hub to play them all in. It therefore comes as little surprise that at least a couple of those games are set to be remakes.

In an interview published by Ubisoft themselves titled ‘CEO Yves Guillemot on Ubisoft’s Upcoming Portfolio, the Future of Assassin’s Creed’ the aforementioned CEO revealed (among other things) that multiple remakes are currently in the works, saying:

“Firstly, players can be excited about some remakes, which will allow us to revisit some of the games we've created in the past and modernize them.”

He continued, “There are worlds in some of our older Assassin's Creed games that are still extremely rich.”

We’ve heard word of an Assassin’s Creed Remake for a while now, with reports claiming that Black Flag will be getting the remake treatment.

That said, with Ubisoft having stuck to remasters for the AC series so far, it’ll be interesting to see how much they decide to switch things up.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you excited for the remakes? What games are you hoping will be included? What game needs it the most? Let us know down below.

The post Multiple Assassin’s Creed Remakes are in the works according to Ubisoft CEO first appeared on KitGuru.

Just yesterday, we reported on Microsoft’s cancelled cloud-streaming Xbox console, with details on the abandoned technology being discovered through submitted patents. It appears Microsoft has no need for its own cloud streaming box, as they have just announced a partnership to bring Xbox Game Pass to Amazon’s Fire TV stick.

Announcing the collaboration on their Xbox Wire Blog, Ashley McKissick – the Corporate Vice President of Xbox Experiences and Platforms Engineering – said:

“At Xbox, we’re committed to bringing the joy and community of gaming to everyone. Today, we’re announcing a collaboration with Amazon where Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in over 25 countries can play games directly from the Xbox app on select Fire TV devices via cloud gaming, giving people even more choice in how they play their favorite games.”

The app will be made available sometime next month for Amazon’s latest Fire TV Stick 4K (2023) and its ‘Max’ variant, with McKissick concluding by stating:

“Over the past several years, we have been on a journey to deliver cloud gaming to more devices and to more people around the globe. We are excited to add Fire TV to our growing family of cloud gaming devices and eager to welcome new players into this experience.”

It makes sense for Microsoft to partner with hardware makers who already have their products in millions of people’s homes. It’ll be interesting to see how much this boosts Game Pass sign-ups.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think about the upcoming app? Is it better than buying a dedicated cloud box? Could you see yourself casually using this? Let us know down below

The post Xbox partners with Amazon to bring Game Pass to Fire TV Sticks first appeared on KitGuru.

Yesterday, we reported on the unfortunate announcement that Microsoft’s Forza Horizon 4 will be delisted later this year “due to licensing and agreements with our partners”. As has been the case with many soon-to-be-delisted games, Forza Horizon 4 has now shot to the top of the PC charts, breaking its own peak player record.

As reported by ResetEra user ‘Theorry’, in the immediacy following the announcement that Forza Horizon 4 would be delisted from store fronts this December, the game saw an influx of players – going from a peak concurrent player count of 10,931 in May to a new record of 71,598 players.

Many of these concurrents appear to be new players too, as the game also shot to the top of the Steam Global Best Sellers list for a brief time.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Microsoft/Playground Games officially comment on this recent surge in Forza Horizon 4’s popularity.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you disappointed by the impending delisting? Did you hop into Forza Horizon 4 recently? Will Xbox renew the game’s licence? Let us know down below.

The post Forza Horizon 4 breaks player record following announcement of its delisting first appeared on KitGuru.

AMD’s FSR 3.1 is the latest and greatest iteration of their upscaling technology, separating the frame generation feature from their upscaler while also introducing improvements to said upscaler. Following its official unveiling in March, AMD FSR 3.1 has now arrived – and is coming first to five Sony games.

Making the announcement on their blog, the team at AMD said “During our FSR 3 developer session at GDC 2024 (Game Developer Conference), we announced AMD FSR 3.1 would be coming in Q2 with exciting improvements and new capabilities. We are excited to share with you that AMD FSR 3.1 is available starting today in five fantastic games, including Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.”

Interestingly, as mentioned, all 5 titles are in fact SIE productions, with the full list of supported titles being as follows:

• Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut
• Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
• God of War Ragnarok (coming soon)

For the uninitiated, FSR 3.1 is focused on refinements and making the upscaler more user/dev friendly, with the notable enhancements being:

• Improved temporal stability, reducing flickering and shimmering.
• Enhanced ghosting reduction and better detail preservation.
• Decoupled frame generation technology that works seamlessly with other upscaling solutions.
• Simplified upgrades for developers to future versions of FSR.
• Added support for Vulkan and Xbox Game Development Kit (GDK).

AMD’s FSR 3 is an impressive achievement which could benefit all PC users, and so it is exciting to see the company’s latest efforts now beginning to be made available.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you going to hop into any of these games? What’s your opinion on FSR? Is the decoupled frame generation a big deal to you? Let us know down below.

The post FSR 3.1 available now in 5 PlayStation Studios games first appeared on KitGuru.

Apple took a big swing with their iPhone 15 series of phones, introducing a renewed focus on gaming with the announcement of iOS ports for a number of major AAA titles. Despite heavy hitters such as Resident Evil 4 Remake, Death Stranding and more being added to iOS, the initiative has so far underperformed.

As reported by mobilegamer.biz, in using calculations from the publications AppFigures and AppMagic, it appears as though all of the major console games which have been ported to iOS have been less-than-stellar sales-wise, with the estimates being as follows:

• Assassin’s Creed Mirage: 3000-5750 copies sold
• Resident Evil 4: 7000-15000 copies sold
• Resident Evil Village: 5750-34000 copies sold
• Death Stranding: 10600-23000 copies sold

Of course, as mentioned these games are only available to play on the iPhone 15 series alongside some select high-end iPads, and so expectations should have been kept in check.

Still, it seems so far as though these iOS ports serve more as a showpiece for what Apple’s devices are capable of – more so than being used as actual console replacements. It’ll be interesting to see how the games perform in the long term.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this new initiative? Do you welcome more iOS ports? What game would you buy on mobile if it were available? Let us know down below.

The post iOS ports of RE4, Death Stranding and more have reportedly underperformed first appeared on KitGuru.

EVO is one of the biggest competitive gaming tournaments in the industry, dating all the way back to 1996 and offering an arena where the biggest and best fighting game champions can clash. Almost 30 years on from its inception and the event is bigger than ever, breaking the all-time esports record for total number of competitors.

As revealed by EVO themselves, ahead of the event’s 2024’s kick-off on the 19th of July, this year’s competition has already broken a world record, writing:

“History was made when sign-ups for the featured titles at Evo 2024 closed this past Monday, June 24. Last year, the event brought in a total of 9,221 unique competitors between the games in the main lineup, breaking multiple all-time registration records in the process.”

They continued, “At the time of this post, there are 16,231 total bracket entries from 10,224 players who are entered in at least one of the featured games at Evo 2024. This marks the first time a video game tournament has reached over 10,000 unique competitors, setting a new all-time record, not just for Evo, but for all of esports.”

Alongside this, more records have also been broken when it comes to particular games such as Tekken 8, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike and more.

EVO is truly a spectacle every single year, and so it is not surprising to see so many players wanting to take a shot at the crown.

KitGuru says: Are you excited for EVO 2024? Will you be watching? What game are you most looking forward to? Let us know down below.

The post EVO breaks esports record with over 10,000 competitors first appeared on KitGuru.

One issue which many video game developers have come across at some point is the need to delist their games from digital stores due to expiring licensing agreements. One of the biggest culprits of this are racing games. Many fans of the Forza series were hoping that 2018’s Forza Horizon 4 might not suffer the same fate due to prior statements from Microsoft themselves. Unfortunately, the game is now set to be delisted later this year.

Making the announcement on their blog, the team at Playground Games shared the unfortunate news: “Due to licensing and agreements with our partners, Forza Horizon 4 will be delisted from digital platforms (Microsoft Store and Steam) on December 15, 2024. This means the game and its additional content will no longer be available for purchase through online stores.”

While some achievements will become unachieveable, the team revealed that “players who already own the game and its content will be able to download and play it as normal, including its offline, online, and multiplayer features; physical copies of the game purchased after this date will also work and will be able to use online features.”

While not necessarily a surprising outcome for the game, back in late 2022 a Forza representative did claim that “we’re not planning on delisting Forza Horizon 4 anytime soon!”

It’s arguable whether a year and a half later would be considered soon, but regardless it is a shame to see pretty much every racing game ultimately succumb to the same fate.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What did you think of Forza Horizon 4? Are you sad to see it going away? How can future racing games avoid what seems to be inevitable? Let us know your thoughts down below.

The post Forza Horizon 4 will be delisted later this year first appeared on KitGuru.

Marvel Rivals is an upcoming Hero shooter in the vein of Overwatch, Paladins and other contemporaries. Ahead of its release at some point in the hopefully not-too-distant future, the PvP shooter has gotten a couple closed alpha tests on PC. Now, it's time for console players to give the game a go, as signs-up for the upcoming closed beta have now gone live.

Making the announcement on Twitter, the official Marvel Rivals page shared the following: “Console sign-ups are open! Complete the form [HERE]. Keep an eye on your email to see if you get selected and stay tuned to our socials and Discord for updates.”

PC players will also get the chance to hop into the beta when it goes live on the 23rd of July, however you won’t be able to register for it until just a couple days before on the 20th.

While it may feel as though the hero shooter space is a crowded market, there is still plenty of opportunity for a new title to come in and take over. We will have to wait and see what the public think of Marvel Rivals during the beta.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Will you sign up for the beta? Can it compete with overwatch? What’s your favourite hero shooter? Let us know down below.

The post Console beta sign-ups for Marvel Rivals is now live first appeared on KitGuru.

As they do each month, Sony gives away a number of titles to all those with a PlayStation Plus subscription. Available to keep forever and play as long as you are actively subscribed, July’s monthly PS Plus titles have now been revealed.

Making the announcement on the PlayStation Blog, the Director of Content Acquisition & Operations at SIE ‘Adam Michel’ said: “July brings a billion guns, puck slapshots and the threat of sabotage to PlayStation Plus with the Monthly Games lineup”. With that, the full line-up of games (available from the 2nd of July) is as follows:

• Borderlands 3 | PS4, PS5 
• NHL 24 | PS4, PS5
• Among Us | PS4, PS5

Additionally, PS Plus members will be able to claim some new in-game rewards for the free-to-play Genshin Impact. Arriving on the 16th of July, the PS Plus bundle includes:

• Primogems × 160
• Fragile Resin × 4
• Hero’s Wit × 20
• Mystic Enhancement Ore × 30
• Mora × 150,000

While in no way the most exciting month in PS Plus history, it is nice to see that both PS4 and PS5 owners will be able to play all of the games being included. The full line-up of PS Plus Extra/Premium titles meanwhile can be found HERE.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of next month’s offerings? How has PlayStation Plus been for you this year? Which of the three games interest you the most? Let us know down below.

The post July’s PS Plus Essential line-up includes Borderlands 3 first appeared on KitGuru.

In the age of social media, it has become increasingly common for players of all kinds to clip and share various gameplay recordings – so much so that all current-gen consoles offer some kind of screen recording functionality. Steam Deck players in particular can now benefit from Valve’s newly announced ‘Game Recording’ feature – though the software is available to PC users as well.

Making the announcement on their store, the team at Valve revealed Steam’s new beta Game Recording software: “A new built-in system for creating and sharing your gameplay footage.”

Announced as being Steam Deck verified, the new feature appears to be rather comprehensive, allowing you to record in the background to ensure you “never miss a moment;” edit and clip videos to your liking; and even add event parkers at specific moments to highlight important sections of a video.

Of course, you’ll then be able to share your final creations pretty much anywhere, saving it to your internal storage or sharing it via Steam messages.

Full details on the new recording feature can be found HERE. While most PC players have likely been using alternatives such as Nvidia’s screen recording or Windows’ own capture function, having a native Steam version is welcome to see – especially for Steam Deck users.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you excited for this feature? Will you be hopping into the beta? What do you use to record gameplay footage? Let us know down below.

The post Steam announces new built-in game recording system first appeared on KitGuru.

Stellar Blade released earlier this year to a wave of success. The PS5 exclusive currently has a user score of 9.2/10 on Metacritic and was confirmed to have been a hit, with a PC port and even a sequel currently being considered. We now have more concrete figures on its success as according to the company’s CFO, Stellar Blade has sold over 1 million copies.

During a press conference for the studio’s IPO launch in Korea, Shift Up CFO Jaewoo Ahn spoke on the success of the team’s first console title, saying (as translated by ResetEra user ‘Neha’):

“Stellar Blade has achieved a user rating of 9.2 on Metacritic, the highest ever for a PS5 title, and continues to hold that record today. Since its launch, the game has ranked first in sales in major console markets such as the U.S. and U.K., and cumulative sales are estimated to have surpassed one million copies.. It's a great first step for a major global IP.”

1 million copies for the team’s first console game is certainly worth celebrating, especially as the game is a PS5 exclusive and has only been out for a little under two months.

With a PC port and a sequel currently under consideration, expect to hear much more from both Shift Up and Stellar Blade in the hopefully not-too-distant future.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you part of the 1 million players? What did you think of Stellar Blade? Where does it rank so far on your 2024 best games list? Let us know down below.

The post Stellar Blade has sold 1 million copies according to CFO first appeared on KitGuru.

Keiichiro Toyama is a well known figure in the games industry, being the creator of the iconic Silent Hill franchise alongside cult favourites Gravity Rush and Siren. Toyama’s upcoming game Slitterhead surprised many during Summer Game Fest when it was revealed to be much more action-oriented compared to Silent Hill. According to the creator, Slitterhead is in fact a reinterpretation of Siren “as a modern action game.”

In an interview conducted by Famitsu (and translated by Automaton), Keiichiro Toyama was asked about the upcoming Slitterhead. Set to release on the 8th of November, the game appears to be a blend of all his previous creations, describing the title’s “fundamental concept” as being “to reinterpret Siren as a modern action game.”

The Siren inspirations are clear, with both it and Slitterhead letting you jack into the minds/bodies of NPCs. Unlike Siren however, Slitterhead will then let you actively control these players – many of which will have unique combat abilities.

Long-term fans of the Siren series will be pleased with Slitterhead, as Toyama revealed that the sightjacking feature will include certain elements “as a form of fanservice” for those in the know.

The Gravity Rush series has proven that Toyama knows how to make a game with a unique and compelling combat gimmick/feature. Hopefully Slitterhead is remembered in the long-run for much more than just its odd name.

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More than 10 years on from its initial release, Final Fantasy XIV is doing better than ever, with a bunch of recent updates ensuring the MMO continues strong for many years to come. Following the release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game, a new update will allow current-gen owners to uncap the framerate up to 120fps.

As part of the patch notes for FFXIV’s 7.0 update (Dawntrail), the team at Square Enix revealed a surprising yet highly welcome feature. In amongst the list of new cities, filed areas, quests and more, patch 7.0 will also bring with it 120hz support, writing:

“When connected to a 120Hz monitor, the maximum frame rate for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S is now 120 fps,” adding that “this is only a change to maximum frame rate. This setting will not ensure your system runs at a steady frame rate.”

As mentioned, it appears the 120hz mode doesn’t change any of the game’s visuals, and so any increased performance is due solely to the already-available headroom with the 60fps mode.

And so while it is highly unlikely that most areas will stay solidly at 120fps, the addition is not only useful for future hardware revisions such as the rumoured PS5 Pro, but could also be beneficial to those with VRR displays. The full and lengthy list of patch notes can be found HERE.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of FFXIV in 2024? Are these updates doing enough to keep the game modern? Let us know down below.

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The Soulcalibur series was one of the most important in the early 3D fighting game space, with the 1998 console release of the second game in particular blowing up to become the 2nd-highest rated game of all time. In the years since, the franchise’s popularity has ebbed and flowed, with the 2020s being particularly quiet. That said, according to the long-time head of fighting game rival Tekken “I don't think the fire of [Soulcalibur] has been extinguished.”

Katsuhiro Harada, the long-time Tekken Project lead, is a well respected representative for the fighting game community, sharing many of his thoughts via lengthy Twitter posts.

In response to one user who directly compared the current status of the Soulcalibur series to its contemporary Tekken, Harada released a lengthy post sharing his thoughts. His full thoughts can be found HERE, but in summary:

“[The TEKKEN Project] were never obedient, but always a wicked group with a strong will (I've realized through these experiences that, unfortunately, I probably have a bad personality). I think this was the only difference between TEKKEN Project and Project Soul.”

“I think that the fact that the number of members who had the drive to keep the title alive, even if they had to jump through all kinds of pressure, decreased as the organization changed, and that is one of the aspects that weakened Project Soul little by little. I am not saying that is all but it was a big factor. Happened due to organizational policy, not individual problems.”

That said, according to Harada, Soulcalibur will return, stating “But from my point of view, I don't think the fire of Project Soul has been extinguished. There are still a few people in the company who have the will to do it. I would like to believe that they are just not united now.”

With its sword-focused mechanics, Soulcalibur is a unique series among the fighting game crowd and so hopefully we do get a 7th entry at some point.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of the Soulcalibur series? Will it come back? Who was your favourite guest character from SCVI? Let us know down below.

The post Tekken lead speaks on the future of Soulcalibur first appeared on KitGuru.