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Seattle-based VR developer Polyarc Games has announced company-wide layoffs, though the number of affected workers was not disclosed. Read more View the full article

Eidos-Montréal, developer of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, has announced a workforce reduction impacting 124 employees. Studio head David Anfossi has also left the Embracer-owned company. Read more View the full article

Ken Kutaragi has been announced as the first keynote speaker for Game Republic New Horizons 2026. Read more View the full article

Who does not like to dive deep into a dark and dangerous forest? Together After Dark is free on Epic ... View the full article

Pixelberry Studios, the developer of the hugely-successful episodic Choices mobile series, has allegedly laid off staff. Read more View the full article

A translator formerly employed by Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 studio Warhorse Studios claims he has been "fired and replaced with AI." Read more View the full article

Ivy Road Studios, the team behind last year’s well-received narrative shop simulator Wanderstop, is closing its doors tomorrow, March 31. The team announced the news this past Friday. The studio was founded by Davey Wreden, known as the creator of The Stanley Parable and The Beginner’s Guide. In a website post, the team explains that it was unable to secure funding for its next project, known as Engine Angel. Because of this, the studio must shut down. “It's a particularly tough time for raising game funds, so while we weren't necessarily surprised, we are disappointed that we won't be able to bring Engine Angel to life together as a team,” reads a section of Ivy Road’s post. The team also provides a link to a 35-second concept video showing off what looks like a whimsical car combat game. As for what this means for Wanderstop, the game will remain available for purchase on each platform it’s listed on, and owners will still be able to download and install it. Ivy Road also reveals that it has been working on one final surprise for the game to help it reach new players. Publisher Annapurna Interactive will share more about what this is in the future. In the meantime, Ivy Road shared a chapter select code that will allow players to revisit specific chapters in Wanderstop or serve as a remedy to players who get stuck. This is activated by typing in the following command at the game’s main menu screen using the d-pad: UP, LEFT, DOWN, RIGHT, UP, B (RMB), UP, RIGHT, DOWN, LEFT, UP, B (RMB), UP, DOWN, UP. Wanderstop stars a retired warrior named Alta who begrudgingly helps manage a tea shop in a magical forest. Although the game sports cozy mechanics, such as harvesting ingredients to brew teas and managing the store and its whimsical customers, it’s a narrative-focused adventure that centers on Alta’s mental health stemming from her fighting days. Executive Editor Kyle Hilliard scored Wanderstop an 8 out of 10 in his review, in which he writes, “I admire the game for being able to use video game genre conventions to tell a pensive, funny, and surprising story set in a charming location with enjoyable characters. Watching Alta grow and accept her limitations will stick with me and make me reflect on my own inability to turn off and just relax. I appreciate any art that makes you think in that way, and Wanderstop is successful in that goal.” View the full article

Score Simon's Shift for free on Itch.io until April 2! Simon's Shift is a small first person game with a ... View the full article

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach sales top 2 million | News-in-briefView the full article

Last week, we learned the sad news that Epic Games would be laying off over 1,000 of its employees due to "downturn in Fortnite engagement" and a general decline in revenue. For the hundreds of now-former employees, it was devastating, but for Mike Prinke and his family, it was uniquely terrible: according to his wife, Prinke has a terminal illness, and losing employment means he also loses his life insurance. (Thanks to IGN, for bringing the story to our attention). According to his LinkedIn, Prinke worked at Epic Games since 2019 as a technical writer and programmer writer. In his role as programmer writer manager (which he held from May 2024 to November 2025), he led a team "responsible for programming resources for UE, UEFN, and other products at Epic Games." On March 28, Jenni Griffin, who is married to Prinke, posted on Facebook about her husband's illness, revealing that Prinke is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. "Because of the layoff, we didn’t just lose income—we lost his life insurance," the post reads. "And because his condition is now considered a pre-existing condition, he can’t get new coverage." Griffin's post ends with a plea to Prinke's former employers for help, as well as a request for the message to be shared. Screenshots have since been posted to various other social media sites, with comments including various messages of sympathy and outrage. Eventually, the screenshots made their way to X, where a post by @BackersGamesF shared the story, tagged Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, and gained tens of thousands of likes and shares. Yesterday, however, Sweeney responded to the post with the following statement: Epic is in contact with the family and will solve the insurance for them. There is high confidentiality around medical information and it was not a factor in this layoff decision. Sorry to everyone for not recognizing this terribly painful situation and handling it in advance. Yesterday, Griffin also edited her original Facebook post to say, "UPDATE (3/29): WE ARE IN TALKS NOW WITH THE APPROPRIATE PEOPLE! WILL UPDATE SOON, LIKELY BY TUESDAY. THANK YOU." While we don't know what agreement, if any, the two parties will reach, it seems they're at least in conversation about potential solutions. Waves of mass layoffs continue to be an upsetting trend in the gaming industry, with Crystal Dynamics, Battlefield Studios, Ubisoft, Riot, Bluepoint, and Wildlight all laying off scores of workers this year alone. Developers generally cite low sales and high development costs as reasons for the cuts, even when the games the companies produce seem like successes. In the most recent layoffs at Epic, Sweeney also blamed low sales for the newest console generation. Three days later, Sony raised the price of the PS5. Source: IGN View the full article

Just as it's starting to get warm outside in the United States, the games industry's biggest players are getting ready for the busiest news season of the year. At the time of writing, Summer Game Fest is 67 days away, and Xbox has decided it's time to unveil its plans for the month of June. The publisher will keep its typical time slot the Sunday after the main SGF showcase (despite technically not being a part of the SGF festivities), and announced the broader showcase will be followed up by a presentation focused entirely on Gears of War: E-Day. According to the announcement article, these are the times you can plan to watch the stream (which will air on YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, and Facebook) in six different time zones: PDT: June 7, 10amEDT: June 7, 1pmBST: June 7, 6pmCEST: June 7, 7pmJST: June 8, 2amAEST: June 8, 3am As you can see in the trailer above, Gears of War: E-Day was announced during Xbox's summer showcase back in 2024. It's a prequel to the series, and will have players experience the events of Emergence Day (or E-Day for short) when the game's alien invaders first made their way to Earth's surface. As for the main showcase, you can likely expect a presentation jam-packed with news about Xbox's current and future plans. Following its string of acquisitions over the last several years, that will likely also include news about Bethesda, Obsidian, Activision, and Blizzard's upcoming projects as well. What do you hope to see from Xbox's big summer showcase this year? Let us know in the comments! View the full article

Download Sleep Demon for free on Itch.io until April 1, a indie single player walking simulator game about sleep paralysis. View the full article

Krafton is shutting down PUBG Blindspot, a free-to-play PC spinoff of its hit PUBG Battlegrounds, after only two months in Early Access. The news comes despite the PUBG franchise powering the firm's best-ever annual revenue, but is in line with its previously stated policy of using Early Access releases to validate games before committing development resources. Read more View the full article

A public Google Sheet created to list those affected by Epic's recent cut of over 1,000 jobs has been converted into a searchable database site in an effort to surface available staff to recruiters. The site currently lists 320 people. Read more View the full article

Unity has announced that it is shutting down its IronSource advertising/user-acquisition network and planning to divest Supersonic, publisher of mobile games including Bridge Race, Going Balls and Build A Queen. The firm said the process would "simplify the business" and enable it to focus on higher growth segments, including its AI-powered ad network Vector. The news was included in the firm's latest investor update. Read more View the full article

Reviewed on: PlayStation 5 Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC Publisher: Konami Developer: ZDT Studio Release: April 2, 2026 The cinematic platformer was popularized by the 2010 Xbox Live Arcade game, Limbo (though its roots extend from 1991’s Another World), and as a result, the genre has primarily offered dark and moody experiences with thoughtful, but opaque stories. Darwin's Paradox sets itself apart in the genre by being colorful, silly, and narratively transparent – think Pixar animated short as opposed to Brothers Quay animated short. The goofy angle and unexpected production values help Darwin feel different, but frequent design annoyances and over reliance on bland stealth gameplay prevent it from rising to the top. Darwin’s Paradox follows the exploits of a smart but clumsy octopus who gets caught up in a life-threatening adventure when they get pulled into a seafood factory that would love to sell more tentacles. Escaping the factory, as well as the hungry seagulls outside, feels like an elaborate cartoon that only gets weirder and weirder as you go along. A lot has been packed into a game that only takes a few hours to complete. The wordless story goes in unexpected directions, and the animation is great across the board. The titular Darwin moves with impressive finesse; the frequent pre-rendered cutscenes showcase animation that wouldn’t feel out of place in a popular summer animated family movie. A handful of visually impressive moments also dot the game, like outrunning a horde of rats and crossing a heavily trafficked street during a rainy night. Gameplay relies primarily on stealth, with Darwin avoiding spotlights and sightlines, using his natural camouflage abilities to stay out of would-be predators’ gazes. The act of hiding vacillates between annoying and boring. There are frustrating instances of walking into a room, for example, and before the camera can catch up to show me what to be prepared for, a guard has already seen me. But the other stealth moments, where things go well, and you recognize the appropriate patterns and activate your blending ability at the right moment, are just drab. Waiting for a spotlight to pass or a guard to turn their back is a passive experience, and the light tone (which I do like) means there is little reason to feel truly nervous. This is a Konami-published game, and as a result, Metal Gear sound effects play in certain scenarios when guards catch you, but calling out a reference to a different beloved video game franchise as a highlight of stealth gameplay is damning praise. The platforming, thankfully, fares much better. Darwin can adhere to most surfaces, and though he can be a little too sticky sometimes, making small environments like pipes and air vents a little tricky, he is fun to control. I much preferred the not-too-challenging platforming gauntlets over the stealth sequences. I feel similarly about the puzzles, as well. I much prefer them over stealth, even if they are all fairly simple. It’s unlikely you will ever get stuck in Darwin’s Paradox, which helps keep the pace moving along. It’s the stealth that slows things down. I am a big fan of cinematic platformers. I appreciate this attempt at taking the mechanics and presentational focus of the genre and applying them to a fun cartoon. That part of the game, alongside the platforming and puzzles, works well and is attractive. Unfortunately, the frequent sneaking slows the game down and is a barrier instead of a fun series of challenges to overcome. Score: 7 About Game Informer's review system View the full article

Invincible VS has added perhaps the one character fans have been clamoring for the most: Conquest. The terrifyingly powerful and mentally unstable Viltrumite is the final character joining the roster at launch: may heaven have mercy on everyone else. Revealed dramatically during the Evo Awards, developer Quarter Up describes Conquest as a striker who is capable of applying “immense pressure” and overwhelming opponents with powerful strikes. For example, he has a charging punch that builds speed and gains super armor the further it travels. Today’s news finalizes the 18-fighter launch roster. Here is the full line-up: Allen the Alien Anissa Atom Eve Battle Beast Bulletproof Cecil Stedman Conquest Dupli-Kate Ella Mental Invincible Lucan Monster Girl Omni-Man Powerplex Rex Splode Robot Thula Titan These characters won’t be alone for long. Quarter Up previously announced a Year 1 DLC roadmap that will add new fighters over the coming months, and we now know the first two characters that will arrive: The Immortal and Universa. The Immortal, as his name suggests, is a long-living warrior and a pillar of the Guardians of the Globe. Universa is new to fans of the Invincible animated series, having debuted in the recently released Season 4; we won’t reveal anything else if you haven’t watched yet. Additionally, Quarter Up also revealed the modes that will be playable in the game’s open beta from April 9-11. Players can try the Tutorial, Practice, and Ranked offerings. 10 characters will be selectable (Invincible, Atom Eve, Omni-Man, Allen, Battle Beast, Rex Splode, Robot, Monster Girl, Thula, and Bulletproof) across 6 arenas: Hometown Invasion (Night), The Moon, Ka-Hor’s Tomb (Day), Himalayas, Kinetic Chamber, and Training Room. Lastly, open beta players will also unlock a special Omni-Man character skin. Invincible VS is set to launch on April 30 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The game also graces the cover of Game Informer magazine this month, and you can subscribe to read the digital issue now (with print issues arriving in the mail and to bookstores/newsstands soon). To learn more about the game, be sure to check out our exclusive feature detailing gameplay for Dupli-Kate, this video feature with co-creator Robert Kirkman discussing the game’s origin, and this piece shedding light on Invincible VS’ story mode. View the full article

Blood And Zombies is free on IndieGala for a limited time, so don’t miss out! It’s a first-person ... View the full article

FrostLight Escape is free on Epic Games Store until Mar 29. Please note this giveaway may not be available in all ... View the full article

Grab Do Not Disturb for free on Itch.io, a short walking simulator set in a strange hotel. View the full article

This weekend we're playing a new entry of an old shooter, a new entry of an old racing game, old Marvel games, and a new (but also kind of old) sports game. It's kind of crazy that Bungie's Marathon originally released in 1994 and Graffiti's Screamer released in 1995, and for the most part, both of those franchises have been mostly dormant for the last 30 or so years. But then this month, both of those games got new, very different entries, and they were both made and released by the original developers who created the first games all those years ago. And people seem to like both of them! I don't know if it's the right turn of phrase, but it feels like I should say... small world? Also, today, we revealed Game Informer's next cover game: Soulframe, from the creators of Warframe. You can read more here, and we will reveal a lot more from the issue soon. It's a good one. But now it's time for the weekend and our usual recommendation of games and things you should check out! But before that, here's a recap of the biggest stories of the week: Cover Reveal – SoulframeGhost Of Tsushima And Yōtei’s Legends’ Co-op Modes Are Experiments According To Lead DesignerEverything Announced At the March 2026 Xbox Partner PreviewSony Announces PlayStation 5 And Portal Price Increases Coming Next WeekFrom Visual Novel To Fortnite, Here's A Brief History of Invincible in Video GamesMarathon Review - Actions Have Consequences Marathon Wesley LeBlanc Marathon is (mostly) a game about various trios dropping into maps, attempting to find the best loot possible, and extracting safely from the map, killing any enemy AI or other players you might encounter along the way. There are new duo variants being tested in-game, and of course, you can always hop into the game solo as a Runner or as a Rook, the robotic shell who loads into a given map with the goal of scavenging. As you might expect, the trio nature of the game implies that you play with two friends. As much as I enjoy doing that, I equally enjoy playing solo, with Crew Fill on, so that I’m put into a trio with two random players. Maybe it’s a sign of the times, but there’s something so interesting about hopping into a trio with two random players and seeing and feeling in real-time how we three strangers come together to complete a goal. I’m always shocked when the other two players are down to help me complete my objectives, ignoring their own, or vice versa. I love hearing the way others speak in a game like Marathon – I was dying the other night, laughing at the way this guy from Philadelphia was talking down to a Rook that wouldn’t get away from us; I enjoyed just as much a match I played last night with two players from Brazil who asked if they could practice speaking English with me. I guess what I’m getting at here is that for as enjoyable as Marathon is as a video game – and it really, really is, and I’d echo the thoughts of Game Informer’s Marathon review – it is also a fantastic anthropological experiment in how players from all over the world interact in a ruthless, cutthroat sci-fi world where your only goal is to extract as much valuable loot as possible. Screamer Kyle Hilliard I am not not a racing game fan. There are a handful that have managed to grab me, like the original Burnout games, F-Zero X on Nintendo 64, and of course, everyone's favorite Ridge Racer, the one that was a launch game for the PSP. For some reason I spent a lot of time with that one. All of that to say that Screamer was not one I have been keeping a close eye on, but playing through the first two or so hours, I admit I am intrigued. The story mode, which has far better cutscenes and production value than it has any right to, is structured a bit like F-Zero GX on the GameCube with impressive cutscenes taking place between challenging races. It is all heavily inspired by anime, with visually distinct characters who wear their motivations and emotions on their sleeves. I am also enjoying the racing part, but I admit I am not very good. It throws new mechanics at you nearly every race with a unique control system that places drift on the right control stick. You also build boost by shifting gears at the right time and activate it by performing a button press that reminds me active reload from Gears of War. You can read Matt Miller's review here where he writes about how all the systems get overwhelming in the long term, and I can definitely see myself hitting that point. But for now, I think I am going to drop the game down to easy and enjoy the ride (so to speak) of the narrative. Marvel Maximum Collection Matt Miller Today’s release of this new collection of early Marvel games gives everyone the chance to experience the highs and lows of many of the big comic books games of the 80s and 90s. The standout inclusion for many is likely X-Men: The Arcade Game, including full online multiplayer support for up to 6 players. We also get the chance to play through Captain America and The Avengers, Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage, Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety, Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade’s Revenge, and even the infamously difficult 8-Bit Silver Surfer. Where those games released on multiple platforms with distinctions between versions, you also can pick which version you want to play. In many cases, these games include cheat options to make them more manageable to experience in their entirety. You also get cool features like a music player, archives of old documents (like instruction manuals), Rewind and Save Status functionality, and the option to play with CRT and scanline visuals, for that real nostalgic effect. Playing them now, not every one of these games is a winner, but they’re all fascinating glimpses into one of the heydays of comic-inspired video games. Basketball Classics Brian Shea As most modern, officially licensed sports games feel locked in an arms race to squeeze as many modes and as high-fidelity graphics as possible into the final product, I've found myself missing the simplicity of the sports games of yesteryear. When I first heard about Basketball Classics (which, I admittedly missed when it came to Steam in 2019) coming to Switch last week, it sounded right up my alley. Retro visuals and simple gameplay? Check. Non-licensed, but fully editable rosters full of homages to classic players? Check. A few simple, non-bloated modes with no microtransactions? Also check. I would have preferred a 16-bit approach instead of the 8-bit-inspired visuals and maybe a few more modes, but it's an excellent throwback to an earlier era of sports games. I can see myself firing up Basketball Classics every now and then, re-creating my favorite teams, and playing through season after season. Now, I just hope other sports developers follow suit. View the full article

Wake up, Envoy, lest you miss the most exciting news in all of Alca: The cover of Game Informer Issue 377 will feature Soulframe, the fantasy MMO from Warframe developer Digital Extremes. What's more is that, in a first for Game Informer, all subscribers will receive a code to hop into Soulframe Preludes, which gives players the opportunity to play early and help guide the game's development as it nears closer to the 1.0 launch. Game Informer senior video editor Alex Van Aken and I traveled to London, Ontario, in the Great White North to visit Digital Extremes, play Soulframe, interview the team about the exciting lead-up to the game's 1.0 launch and all of the work that goes into creating a new MMO. My 14-page cover story features all-new information about Soulframe, including details about mounts and an upcoming class, behind-the-scenes insight into creating this team's first new game in nearly a decade, the "war wounds" of Digital Extremes' past, the passionate focus on community management at the studio, and so much more. There's a solid chance you didn't know about Soulframe before today – after this story, alongside the opportunity to jump into the game early, I'm betting it's a game you'll continue to keep your eyes on. Subscribe today to ensure you get this issue (and the exclusive Soulframe code that comes with it) – you have until April 22 to subscribe for this issue! Our Soulframe cover speaks to one of Soulframe's primary inspirations: Studio Ghibli's seminal 1997 animated feature, Princess Mononoke. The Envoy, which is the customizable player-controlled character, stands calm and confident alongside Orengall, the Omen Shewolf. Throughout your Soulframe journey, you will collect various Pacts, which are equippable arms that change how your Envoy plays, and though the Envoy on our cover is wearing the default arm, as it were, there are hours of adventure (and various additional Pacts) awaiting them. The Envoy and Orengall are ready to defeat the Ode, the extraterrestrial enemy faction stripping the world of Alca of its precious resources. Throughout Soulframe Preludes and in the 1.0 launch of Soulframe, players will utilize Pacts, all manner of weapons and armor, and more to restore this once-peaceful land back to prosperity and natural harmony. Now, if you're still waiting for your Invincible VS. issue of Game Informer to arrive, don't sweat – those magazines are shipping to mailboxes as we speak! And this Soulframe issue doesn't even go live (digitally) until next month, on April 7. We found ourselves in the unique position to announce this cover during a Digital Extremes DevStream for Soulframe today – it just aired – and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to announce this news to the developers' most hardcore community. So trust that this cover reveal is early and you shouldn't stress about the Invincible VS. issue arriving as it's on its way! When the physical edition of this Soulframe issue arrives in your mailbox, you will find a pack-in postcard with your unique Soulframe Preludes code alongside instructions on how to redeem it and hop into the game. If you're a digital subscriber, around the same time those magazines start arriving in mailboxes, we'll send an email to each of you with your unique Soulframe Preludes code and instructions on how to use it. We're very excited about the opportunity for our subscribers to read our Soulframe cover story and then jump into the game to see it in action! The digital edition of Game Informer Issue 377 will launch on April 7, with physical editions heading to mailboxes in the coming weeks. We'll be revealing more details about what's in the issue, including features, reviews, previews, and more, closer to that launch. View the full article

Marathon has been running laps around our minds these last few weeks, so this week on The Game Informer Show, we brought on our good pal Jesse Vitelli from Restart.run to discuss Bungie's extraction shooter, and how it's shaping up in a crowded field. After that, Charles asks the group: what are the games of spring? We explore the concept, from imagery and aesthetic to pure vibes-based selections. I promise, you'll be surprised by at least a few picks. All this and more on The Game Informer Show this week, so grab a cold drink and tune in! The Game Informer Show is a weekly podcast covering the video game industry. Join us every Friday for chats about video game reviews, news, and exclusive reveals alongside Game Informer staff and special guests from around the industry. Check out the podcast: Listen to "Marathon Thoughts w/ Jesse Vitelli" on Spreaker.Follow our hosts and guests online:Charles Harte (@chuckduck365)Eric Van Allen (@seamoosi)Jesse Vitelli (@mamavitelli)Use the timestamps to jump around:00:00 - Intro 04:02 - Marathon 42:25 - Spring Games View the full article

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie drops next week, and it's got a wildly star-studded cast. Captain Marvel's Brie Larson is Rosalina, Uncut Gems co-director Benny Safdie is Bowser Jr., and even Yoshi is voiced by Emmy and Grammy winner Donald Glover. Yesterday, however, a new character was announced to be in the movie, and while some fans were frustrated with Nintendo for revealing the character's existence so close to the movie's premiere, it did raise an unavoidable question: who's voicing them? Today, we learned the answer: Glen Powell. If you want to avoid spoilers, now's your official warning, as we're going to speak plainly about the new character from this point forward. Super Mario Galaxy Movie Character Spoilers Ahead If you caught our story yesterday, you know that Fox McCloud from the Star Fox series is (somehow) appearing in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and now we know the character will be played by Glen Powell. While Powell has been acting since his appearance in Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over in 2003 (yeah, that's him! Look it up!), he's recently grown in prominence thanks to his appearance in Top Gun: Maverick, which he followed up with leading roles in films like Anyone But You, Hit Man, and Twisters. The actor seems like a good choice to voice Fox, partially because of the audience's real-world knowledge that Powell was also in Top Gun, so any scenes of Fox doing loop-de-loops or a barrel roll with Powell's voice will feel familiar. In Powell's Instagram video confirming the news, he certainly seems enthusiastic. The brief clip shows him hopping through a movie theater, with light special effects illuminating a rainbow trail behind him while the Mario invincibility star theme plays in the background. When he finally makes his way to the front of the theater, where the camera is filming, we finally get a good enough look at him to see he's wearing Fox's signature vest, and he strikes a dramatic pose. The music switches to a fanfare from Star Fox, and the name "Fox McCloud" appears on the screen. As for what role Fox might play in the animated film, we have no clue. Since he doesn't typically share a universe with Mario, fans have been quick to theorize that his presence might lead to a crossover Smash Bros. film down the line, and while that certainly makes sense from a business perspective, we've yet to see how his appearance is justified in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Luckily, we won't have to speculate much longer: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie drops on April 1, next Wednesday. View the full article