GDC 2024

THQ Nordic While Nintendo’s February Direct Partner Showcase included a few unexpected games, nothing was more surprising than the return of Epic Mickey. The Nintendo Wii adventure is something of a cult classic among Disney fans thanks to its unique painting hook and some clever 2D levels that pay tribute to classic Mickey Mouse cartoons. Though it’s beloved by some, reviews at the time were mixed due to some clumsy Wii-era motion controls and a poor 3D camera. Thankfully, the Disney adventure is getting some…

Tomorrow Corporation When I sat down to demo World of Goo 2 at this year’s GDC, I noted to the developers on hand how surprising it was to see a sequel after so long. “It’s been, what? Ten years?” I said. I was very far off the mark: They noted that the original World of Goo launched in 2008. After playing a few levels (and having an existential crisis over time’s rapid passing), I’d find myself wondering how such an obvious slam dunk didn’t come sooner. Like its predecessor, World of Goo 2 is a physics-based puzzle…

Nvidia I wasn’t a fan of the Covert Protocol demo that Nvidia showed me on a video call late last week. The short mystery demo features a handful of NPCs that are directed entirely by AI. There’s a door greeter, an executive waiting for a room, and a receptionist — ans all three featured what were, on the surface, bland dialogue trees generated with AI. At GDC 2024, trying out the demo myself, I was converted. My experience was slightly different than what I experienced through a hands-off demo last week. After it…

Activision Activision may be under new ownership at Xbox, but that’s not slowing down its flagship series. After a few years in development, Call of Duty Warzone Mobile is finally launching worldwide under the Microsoft banner. It’s a major moment for the shooter series that’s endured multiple industry changes over its long lineage. The new mobile game is the latest evolution for Call of Duty, bringing a high-quality battle royale experience to phones. The importance of that evolution isn’t lost on Chris Plummer, the…

Nintendo “Development is going to be chaos.” That was the reaction of Takahiro Takayama, lead physics engineer on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, when he saw the first prototypes for two of the game’s abilities: Ultrahand and Fuse. The seasoned engineer, who led the physics system on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, as well, knew that this type of physics system was uncharted territory. “The more I thought, the more I worried,” he explained during a panel at 2024’s Game Developers Conference (GDC).…

Skydance Media / Unreal Engine During the State of Unreal keynote held at GDC 2024, Unreal Engine revealed some interesting new developments that are coming in the next update of its graphics engine. Developers will now be able to create authentic, highly dense environments and character details in real time in a way that just doesn’t seem to have been possible in the past. The company demoed these new capabilities during an early preview of Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, and it’s really quite impressive. The demo shows…

Curve Games Last summer’s Xbox Games Showcase was filled with so many eye-catching titles that I wouldn’t blame you for forgetting half of them. One title that’s stayed with me since then, though, is Dungeons of Hinterberg. The unique action RPG stood out thanks to its use of the Alps as a backdrop and its bold style that made it look like a visual novel come to life. It looked like the kind of game I’d love, but I’d need to get hands-on to see if it felt the part, too. Any skepticism I had there was washed away as…

Skydance New Media We finally learned the title of the Captain America and Black Panther video game that former Uncharted creative director Amy Hennig is making at Skydance New Media. It’s titled Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra and will come out sometime next year. This was all revealed during Epic Games’ State of Unreal presentation at GDC 2024. Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra | Story Trailer A cinematic trailer gave us a taste of the game’s story, which sees Captain America and Black Panther fighting Hyrda in an occupied…

Riot Games has laid out its plans to revitalize its collectible League of Legends card game, Legends of Runeterra, in 2023. The backbone of the road map is a recurring three-month release cycle that rotates through the releases of Expansions, Live Balance Patches, and Variety Sets.Each quarter of the 2023 road map will feature an Expansion, which Riot Games says will primarily focus on new champions and game mechanics. As such, these will be the biggest updates of the year, with Riot Games teasing that brand-new and…

Atari If you asked me to make a list of the most stressful video games of all time, Lunar Lander would be pretty high up there. The Atari classic is a masterclass in minimalist tension, asking players to land spaceships on rocky planets very gingerly. Those who experienced that game when it launched could probably regale you with war stories about their space-faring escapades, but Atari is about to give players a new panic attack. Lunar Lander Beyond is a new reimagining of the classic Atari game from developer…