GamersHeroes Thursday, December 18, 2025 11:42 AM Proving that battles can be sweet and tricky in equal measure, Adam Lewis Graf's latest Dev Vlog for Exquisite Laundry Pet and Mega Cat Studios' 8-bit adventure Gumball in Trick-Or-Treat Land puts the spotlight on its turn-based battles. The post Gumball in Trick-or-Treat Land Combat Dev Vlog Released appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Thursday, December 18, 2025 11:08 AM Tasking players with powering up their dice to defeat the Necrodicer, Filiokus has revealed their roguelite-deckbuilder Talystro. The post Roguelike Dice-Card Deckbuilder Talystro Revealed appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Thursday, December 18, 2025 10:53 AM Available from Legendary Motorsport or the Luxury Autos window display, all those that dive into Rockstar Games' GTA Online will be able to get behind the wheel of the Progen Luiva Supercar. The post Progen Luiva Supercar Now Available in GTA Online appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Thursday, December 18, 2025 9:23 AM Paying host to a personal playground of combat styles, the continent of Votland is ripe for exploration when Sailike Game and Anotherindie's vibrant pixel ARPG Philna Fantasy launches on Steam January 15. The post Vibrant Pixel ARPG Philna Fantasy Launching on Steam January 15 appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 18, 2025 11:35 AM
Just Dance 2026 Edition Sees a 50% discount before we've even reached its titular calendar year. The post Nintendo Switch Party Game (Just Dance 2026 Edition) Is 50% Off After 80K+ Sold, Still Arrives Before Christmas appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 18, 2025 11:10 AM
Valve's annual blowout features deals on Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Expedition 33, Assassin's Creed and more The post Steam's Massive Winter Sale Includes A Bunch Of 2025's Best Games appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 18, 2025 11:05 AM
It redefines what responsive gameplay actually feels like. The post LG Clears This 32″ Ultragear Gaming Monitor (240Hz, OLED, 3ms, 4K), Now Cheaper Than 27″ Model appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 18, 2025 10:59 AM
Industry veterans are weighing in after Larian received blowback for using generative AI in its workflow The post <em>Kingdom Come Deliverance 2</em> Dev Says AI 'Here To Stay' While Ex-Naughty Dog Lead Says 'No Thanks' appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 18, 2025 10:35 AM
Enjoy a versatile streaming stick that can get you wherever you want to go just by plugging into your TV. The post Amazon's Fire TV Stick HD at Nearly 50% Off Might Be the Cheapest Way to Check Off a Christmas Gift appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 18, 2025 10:08 AM
Corbeau has friends in high and low places The post <em>Pokémon Legends: Z-A's</em> DLC Has A Surprising Tie To The Original Game Boy Games appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 18, 2025 10:05 AM
Save up to 21% on the M4-powered MacBook Air for a limited time at Amazon. The post Apple's 2025 MacBook Air (15″, M4) Drops to Its Lowest Price to Take On Windows Laptops From Microsoft, HP, and More appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 18, 2025 9:35 AM
Universal compatibility across your entire device collection. The post Microsoft Does Final Price Cut of Year on Xbox Controllers, Nearly 50% Off and Makes Sony's Look Overpriced appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 18, 2025 9:05 AM
Give your workstation an upgrade without blowing your budget. The post Forget Mac Mini, Amazon's 4.5-Star Gaming Mini PC Just Hit All-Time Low and Extra Coupon Makes It Even Cheaper appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 18, 2025 8:56 AM
Delphi Interactive doesn't seem to have any developers The post The Big Mystery Surrounding Netflix's New <i>FIFA</i> Game Is Who's Actually Making It appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 18, 2025 8:35 AM
One of our favorite laptop deals during holiday season. The post Lenovo Goes Rogue on Amazon, This Laptop (i5, 512GB, DDR5, WiFi 6) Drops Nearly 80% Off appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 18, 2025 8:20 AM
Three ports and 67W power delivery transform cable chaos into streamlined charging simplicity. The post This 67W 3-Port USB-C Wall Charger Goes for Peanuts, Amazon Dumps Stock at Record Low for Year-End appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 18, 2025 8:15 AM
Light of Motiram was called a 'slavish clone' by Sony in the filing The post Sony Settles Lawsuit With Tencent Over That <i>Horizon Zero Dawn</i> Knock-Off appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 18, 2025 8:05 AM
Save nearly $300 on a pro-level 4K action camera that makes sharing and posting videos incredibly easy. The post DJI Is Unloading More Than Drones as the Osmo Pocket 3 Vlogging Camera Hits a Record Low appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 18, 2025 7:35 AM
For a limited time, you can save 49% on the Beats Studio Pro premium wireless over-ear headphones. The post Apple Clears Out Beats Studio Pro at Nearly 50% Off as AirPods Max Remain Full Price appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 18, 2025 7:05 AM
Amazon's nearly 40% off deal is clearing out these 11-inch tablets that are kid-friendly but also great for adults. The post Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ Just Crashed Past Yesterday's Record Low After Another Sudden Price Drop appeared first on Kotaku. |
PCGamesN Thursday, December 18, 2025 11:40 AM Blueprints have been dropping much more frequently since Arc Raiders' Cold Snap update, and now Embark's intervened with a new patch. |
PCGamesN Thursday, December 18, 2025 11:07 AM Find great gamer upgrades for the PC players and other gamers in your life. With options from as little as $10, these won't break the bank this Christmas. |
PCGamesN Thursday, December 18, 2025 10:57 AM The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D will bring a boost in clock speed over the 9800X3D and, unsurprisingly, will come with a higher price, too. |
PCGamesN Thursday, December 18, 2025 10:02 AM Dune Awakening Chapter 3 is being touted as the MMO's biggest update yet, and looking at these changes, I'm inclined to believe it. |
PCGamesN Thursday, December 18, 2025 7:53 AM Bemoaning the long production times for Kingdom Come Deliverance and KCD2, Daniel Vavra labels recent Larian outrage as "AI hysteria." |
PCGamesN Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:47 AM Grab virtually nothing but the gems you'll need to cruise through the toughest challenges with the latest Dungeon Hunters codes on Roblox. |
PCGamesN Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:15 AM Reports claim a Starfield preview event has showcased big gameplay changes and its next DLC, but the jury's out on the impact they'll have. |
PCGamesN Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:42 AM Unlock loads of easy freebies, from rerolls and gems, to limited-time characters with the latest Universal Tower Defense codes on Roblox. |
PCGamesN Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:40 AM Plug in new Anime Celestial X codes to score free gems, gamepasses, and potions in this new Roblox anime bandit beater. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Thursday, December 18, 2025 11:59 AM Assetto Corsa Rally's first big update adds in snow, an ice circuit and a majestic 70s stage smasher  Having launched with plenty of tarmac and dirt spaghetti for your car to be violently spit from into a tree or hedge, Assetto Corsa Rally now features the usual third type of surface that's rallied along. Supernova Games Studios have let snow and ice encrust their sim in its biggest update since it took off from the early access start line. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Thursday, December 18, 2025 11:01 AM  "That's not a minotaur, that's a stand-in for the child star of a classic 90s Christmas movie," I yell while playing Minos' free holiday reskin, Minos: Home A-Labyrinth. Devs Artificer have temporarily transformed the demo of their maze-building roguelike - due out in full next year - into a legally distinct parody of Home Alone's burglar-hurting antics you can play for free. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Thursday, December 18, 2025 10:58 AM  Santa Ragione have announced that they've repaid all the money they borrowed to develop their Surrealist horror game Horses, despite being denied release on Steam and the Epic Games Store. It's a better outcome than expected, given Steam's centrality to PC gaming, and a strong demonstration of support for art that is prepared to disregard taboos and investigate something profoundly ugly. It's also, however, not enough to keep Santa Ragione operational. As warned when they broke their silence about the Steam ban last month, the developers are suspending operations and looking for other work. It's possible they'll get the band back together down the road, but this "will not be easy". |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Thursday, December 18, 2025 8:22 AM  Silent Hill f is one of the few Silent Hill games set outside Silent Hill itself. It transports players from the eternal doldrums of Maine, North America to 1960s Japan, and casts you as a school student in the foggy village of Ebisugaoka. It's very good, thanks not least to a thoughtful and poignant story from Ryukishi07. Appetites are now whetted for a Silent Hill package tour, and Konami producer Motoi Okamoto already has a few ideas about where he'd like the series to go next. Ideas that, admittedly, make me nervous about the possibility of ham-fisted cultural misrepresentation. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:59 AM  At 5 pm, most week nights, I've gone out to scavenge among the vestiges of humanity for loose wires and leftover air fresheners. But right after I get back from the Kilburn Tesco Metro, I boot up Arc Raiders and do the same, except this time with friends. (Classic joke structure ACTIVATED.) That is the magic of videogames. Despite returning to extraction shooter Arc Raiders time and again, exploring its ruined Earth in 20-minute sessions while keeping out of the reach of the flying robots hunting for fleshy humans, there's always a wrinkle when judging multiplayer games: are you playing because the game is good, or because it's lovely to catch up with the ol' gang? |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:53 AM  Long-time Bioware creative director and lead designer James Ohlen is stepping away from his role as studio head at Archetype Entertainment, developers of Mass Effecty sci-fi shooter Exodus. Ohlen co-founded Archetype back in 2019 with Exodus, which is heavy on Matthew McConaughey and space bears from what we've seen thus far, being the studio's debut game. Following abother trailer at last week's Geoff Awards, it's now set to come out in early 2027. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:49 AM  Valve's recently announced Steam Frame is promising a unique twist on VR headsets. On top of being a Quest 3-style standalone headset that can both stream games from a powerful PC and run less demanding games on its own internals, the latter won't be limited to VR titles – by using SteamOS as its operating system, the Frame can locally run any Steam game in your library, provided it can perform on the hardware. That's all fine, especially in how it bypasses classic VR issues like the need for base stations or an expensive desktop. But the smartest thing in VR right now is not the Steam Frame. It isn't even hardware. It's a mod. Enter Praydog's UEVR, or Universal Unreal Engine VR: a mod that's quietly turned hundreds (potentially thousands) of Unreal Engine games into playable, room-scale VR experiences since its release. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:13 AM  What music do you expect from a 4X game? As regards historical 4X games, I predict a mixture of triumphal philharmonics and noodly period skits, as though wandering between the main floor and the giftshop in some museum of empire. If it's a fantasy game, I think of choirs blaring wordlessly or singing doggerel Latin or Welsh. If it's a sci-fi game, I think of choirs and synth. I haven't heard any choirs so far in Hard Void, though I may have encountered some synth. As regards the trailer and demo, it deals exclusively in heart-battering techno. It sounds like 3am in a club I wouldn't have been old enough to get into, when this kind of stuff was in vogue. I can picture the bouncer glaring at me. Gosh, the bouncer sure has funny-shaped pupils. Mates, I fear the bouncer may be Lovecraftian. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Thursday, December 18, 2025 5:50 AM  Rude cyborg vs. immortal robot strategy sequel Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II is releasing in Spring 2026, publishers Kasedo Games have announced. For anyone keeping track of the 40K XCOM-alike, that'll sound like a delay, considering it had previously mumbled something about launching in 2025. But then, we'd reached the dying days of December and it still didn't have a specific date. Can one delay something that wasn't dated to begin with? |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Thursday, December 18, 2025 5:29 AM  Stand down, great lawyer-machines of the courtly plains. Sony and Tencent's legal scuffle over alleged Horizon "clone" Light of Motiram has ended with a "confidential settlement". As part of that arrow-flinging cessation, Tencent appear to have packed Light of Motiram away and pulled it from PC stores. |
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Siliconera Thursday, December 18, 2025 12:00 PM
Bandai Namco's European site shared new details about Code Vein II equipment, with one of the elements being the Blood Codes that determine which weapon a character uses and how they fight. The overview also briefly covered the Boosters we can equip, then went over how things like Blood Codes and Boosters can affect Attributes and Traits of a character in the newest entry in the series.
While weapons are their own set kind of equipment and involve one-handed swords, two-handed swords, rune blades, twin blades, bayonets, halberds, and hammers, the Code Vein II Blood Codes determine what you can equip and how a character works in the way a class or job would. Characters gain proficiency in them when they use them, as there's a bar that fills and is shown in the one screenshot shared. For example, the sample Blood Code shown is Superbia Bloodline: Lou 1. Its Attributes are 10 Strength, 10 Dexterity, 14 Mind, 10 Willpower, 12 Vitality, and 10 Fortitude base stats. We also see Traits like Guard Stamina Cost Down and Attack Power Briefly Up After Drain Attack are tied to it. A Booster can be equipped to help with stats or effects. The one shown in a screenshot as an example is a Mind Booster that offered Mind +1.
As in other games, Traits in Code Vein II affect our abilities and Overburdened determines movement. Your mobility is affected by Overburdened, which can alter your dodge. Both standard and Link Traits tied to certain characters working together kick in if you meet objectives. So the Superbia Bloodline: Lou 1 Blood Code I mentioned earlier's Guard Stamina Cost Down trait will only kick in if the Mind Margin for a character is 10.
Here are the official screenshots going over these features.
Code Vein II will come to the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on January 30, 2026.
The post Code Vein II Blood Codes and Equipment Detailed appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Thursday, December 18, 2025 11:00 AM
People who want to watch season 3 of the Dan Da Dan anime might have to wait for over a year since its initial announcement. Reports from manga magazines indicate that the new season will air in 2027. [Thanks, Ryokutya.]
The official Japanese social media account for the anime adaptation had previously announced a confirmation of the third season's production in September 2025. It has since been gradually posting new tweets to hype up the new season. The latest one so far features an interaction scene between the show's two protagonists, Momo Ayase and Ken "Okarun" Takakura.
The inaugural season for the anime adaptation of Dan Da Dan launched in October 2024. The second season followed through in July 2025, although it also appeared in theaters a month earlier in June 2025. Science SARU has been the studio working on the whole anime adaptation, and it is also confirmed to be working on the new third season.
The original manga series, made by Yukinobu Tatsu, launched in April 2021 on Shonen Jump+. The manga is still ongoing with Chapter 220 published on December 16, 2025. The latest standalone tankobon release as of 2025 was Volume 21 on October 3, 2025. Shueisha has also confirmed plans to publish the new Volume 22 on January 5, 2026.
Season 3 of the Dan Da Dan anime is expected to air in 2027.
The post Dan Da Dan Season 3 Won't Appear Until 2027 appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Thursday, December 18, 2025 10:00 AM
Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter will come out in Fall 2026 for the PS5, Switch, Switch 2, and Windows PC via Steam. Falcom has also opened up a teaser site for it with new information. It will appear worldwide.
When accessing the site, the site warns you that it will contain spoilers for the first game. It asks that players start from the free demo of the first game if they want to fully enjoy the story. In terms of information, there's not much yet. We see the key visual, which features main characters like Estelle, Joshua, and Renne, as well as the platforms it'll appear on.
You can watch the announcement trailer on the GungHo YouTube channel. Players who don't know the story and care about spoilers should note that, like it warns at the beginning, the trailer doesn't hesitate to spoil events that happen in the first game.
Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter will be a remake of the second Trails of the Sky game, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC. It originally came out in Japan in 2006, though a PSP version also came out in the same year. It directly picks up from the end of the first game, so new players should start from there lest they feel lost.
Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter will come out in Fall 2026 for the PS5, Switch, Switch 2, and Windows PC via Steam.
The post Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter Has Fall 2026 Release Window appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Thursday, December 18, 2025 9:00 AM
In games where we manage a business, organization, or city, there's always a consistent gameplay loop. We set up a situation. We let that run for a bit and hope for success. Depending on how that goes, we respond. In the best case scenarios, it's setting a path for consistent expansion before maintaining stable success. But it can also be just as engrossing if things aren't going as expected and we need to triage. News Tower, Sparrow Night's newspaper management simulation, offers a near-perfect gameplay and feedback loop that encourages constant investments.
The general premise is very simple. You're living in New York in 1929. You get the chance to create and manage a newspaper inherited from your deceased father, deciding the direction you take and your sphere of coverage. (Yes, this means you could go moral or sensational.) This means maintaining and organizing your building and newsroom, as well as determining your sphere of coverage, revenue sources, factions you support, and range of distribution. If you do well you won't only survive, but also best competing newspapers Empire Observer and Jersey Beacon. (Doing that nets you Lowrise and Highrise building and game modes with new challenges.) Basically, you get the opportunity to cover topics that would come up between 1930-1939 based on actual events. Maintain your office, find stories, prepare a weekly paper, see the response, invest in your office and employees, use what you learned to fine tune stories for next week, and keep learning, reporting, and hopefully succeeding.
General News Tower progression is divided into two parts. One involves building layout and management. You can purchase floors, place staircases, a generator, and lights, set up a research section with things like telegraphing stations and reporter desks, a text area with assembly tables and typesetting desks, and setting up a printer with input and output modules, belts, and a printer page module. There are also elements to help increase comfort, divisions, and efficiency, like a bathroom, pneumatic tubes, elevators instead of stairs, comfort elements, and walls to further set up divisions. But there's a lot of getting things set up, then hiring people to manage them.
Now, this part is incredibly enjoyable, but it also is an element that I found I didn't engage with as often as I did the actual newspaper management. Setting up a building to ensure everything flows together, there's efficient movement between stations, and people can get around matters! I did find I'd need to tweak and adjust things, especially as the paper and building grew. But that actual setup part doesn't seem to come up as frequently as other management elements.
Which may be for the best! There are a lot of management elements in News Tower, such as keeping an eye on staff, making decisions about news coverage, trying to improve circulation, balance faction requests, and deal with malicious attempts to hamper your success. When we start a game, we can hire reporters who focus on crime, the economy, entertainment, politics, society, sports, and world news. We invest in people to improve them, but also need to take care when sending journalists on assignments as they could end up injured. You wait for ideas to come in on the telegraph. When a story possibly comes up, you need to go through different parts and assign a person to work it. Skill points can dictate how fast progress goes. The number of printer page presses you have determine how many stories you can do, with one page having room for three stories. The meat of it comes from assigning stories, having staff move things from one section to another, and prepare to put out your Sunday papers. Though, from what I've seen, a little extra micromanagement to ensure priority stories are staff's main focus and manually moving some elements along is better than leaving folks to their own devices.
I mentioned earlier that you can decide how you cover things. News Tower lets you choose between lies and the truth. You can be practical and honest, or try and lean toward clickbait sorts of situations. These elements can affect popularity and public response. (As can things like pricing.) It also determines whether you'll catch the attention of different factions.
Which plays into the hazards that can come up in News Tower. Issues like smells from a bathroom or sound could be a problem, requiring acoustic panels, walls, and sinks. The printing press is a mechanical monster that's hot, noisy, and generally unpleasant, so building layouts need to take that into account to ensure people are comfortable enough to actually work. Because if people aren't happy, they won't perform. Factions might be unhappy with your coverage choices. (You know, reporting the truth.) This could lead to members of the military or criminal organizations coming in with threats or bribes. Spies can come in to damage equipment. It feels like there's never enough money, which means taking out loans.
Given how much is happening at once, that News Tower works so well is a testament to Sparrow Night's work. However, I found that can make it especially noticeable when something doesn't work exactly right or is a little unbalanced. The UI is a bit cluttered and sometimes isn't as intuitive as you'd expect for all the information coming in at any time. I got used to it, but it's a bit to take in when you start. Also, while moral and quality decisions come up, I felt like the simulation didn't go far enough to reward or penalize these kinds of actions and decisions. While going bankrupt is a threat and there are rivals, it's pretty easy to work out how to get ad opportunities and the other papers aren't a genuine threat. Which meant after about 10 to 15 hours or when you are in your second or third run, it might not feel as thrilling. (But even then, it taking that long to start feeling "routine" is pretty good!) I encountered an array of bugs as well, but found the issues with staff intelligence and minor problems seem to be covered in Sparrow Night's patches, so I'm pretty sure they'll be squashed in the next few weeks and months.
News Tower is a satisfying business management simulation that involves optimizing offices and reporting procedures to ensure success. It feels like there's are opportunities to keep investing and growing. It can even be so satisfying that it stays compelling for hours. There are some minor issues and sometimes it might feel a bit too easy or routine when you get used to things, but I still very much recommend it.
News Tower is available on PCs, and there is a demo on Steam.
The post Review: News Tower Offers a Satisfying Newspaper Management Loop appeared first on Siliconera. |
Destructoid Thursday, December 18, 2025 11:29 AM
The Holiday 2025 festivities have begun for Epic Games Store to celebrate Christmas, and the Mystery Game feature has returned. For the next few days, Epic Games Store will be providing games to you for free. Once redeemed, these games will be permanently added to your library.
This guide will help you stay on top of every free game that you can get as part of the holiday celebrations.
Table of contents
All Mystery Games in Epic Games Holiday 2025
The giveaways have begun on Dec. 11, and we already have the second offering available on the store.
I will be adding more games to this list when they become available. There will be a new game every day, and Epic has begun in a pretty grand fashion. Hogwarts Legacy is one of the best games that I have played. You can enjoy all the content available in the base game for free, and it will be interesting to find out more about what's next.
How to get the free Mystery Games from Epic Games 2025
The process of redeeming the games is the same. However, every game on offer will be available for a limited period. Hogwarts Legacy was offered on Dec. 11 at 10am PT/12pm CT, and the next game since then has been Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel.
Hogwarts Legacy was available until 8am PT/10am CT on Dec. 18. From now on, all games released as part of the freebies will be available for a period of just 24 hours.
As long as a game is on offer, open its store page. You'll find that the purchase price is zero (instead of its listed price). Add it to your cart and confirm the order to proceed with adding the game to your account. Once done, you can then download the game from your library. As mentioned, all products that you add for free during the Holiday 2025 event will be permanently present in your library.
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Destructoid Thursday, December 18, 2025 11:03 AM
If you long for the days of Dino Crisis, blending survival horror with prehistoric creatures and Regina's skin-tight body suit, then this upcoming title will likely be right up your alley.
Code Violet, described by developer TeamKill Media as "our spiritual successor to the legendary Dino Crisis, blending classic survival horror tension with ferocious prehistoric threats," only recently started showing up on my social media, and today I found out it's just a few weeks away.
I immediately perked up. Dino Crisis? Hell yeah. I still sometimes revisit the original PS1 classic on the PS5 via PlayStation Plus, and it's a series that I wish Capcom would return to eventually. Unfortunately, the concept of this particular game sounds cool only until you delve a bit into the developer's past, which is filled with some questionable titles that have been rated as quite mediocre.
TeamKill Media's history of previously released games is tenuous, at best. The studio opened in 2016 and released its first title, Kings of Lorn: The Fall of Ebris in 2019 for PS4 and PC. It's got Mixed reviews on Steam and a 3.01 rating on the PSN store.
Then came Quantum Error in 2023, a PS5 title that ended up as the fourth-worst game on MetaCritic that year, and a paltry 2.08 rating on PSN. The studio's most recent game, Son and Bone, may have been its best, with a 3.51 score on PSN and a 7.3 user rating on MetaCritic.
This doesn't exactly inspire the most confidence in Code Violet, although the concept (hot woman shooting dinosaurs) sounds exciting enough, and even story-wise, sounds somewhat interesting.
"In the 25th century, a cataclysm has left Earth uninhabitable, driving humanity's survivors to Trappist 1-E," the game's description on PSN reads. "Facing extinction due to sterility, the Aion colony harnesses cutting-edge time-travel technology to abduct women from the past to be surrogates in a dark yet desperate bid to save mankind. But their mission conceals a sinister conspiracy. As Violet Sinclair, torn from your time, you awaken in the Aion Bioengineering Complex, swarming with ferocious prehistoric dinosaurs and hostile forces. Carefully manage your inventory, uncover Aion's dark secrets, fight to survive, and escape during a chaotic evacuation protocol."
A new gameplay trailer for the game, released yesterday, doesn't really excite me much either, despite Violet's myriad of skimpy outfits on display. But some in the YouTube comments seem to be quite interested, as one user so eloquently stated: "Guns, buns, and dinosaurs."
Code Violet launches on PS5 on Jan. 10 at $49.99, so maybe you'll be willing to give it a shot to kick off the year. I am not sold just yet, but I think I'd rather just keep on hoping for that Dino Crisis remake or reboot.
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Destructoid Thursday, December 18, 2025 11:03 AM
It's officially winter, and Disney Dreamlight Valley has plenty of festive fun for you to enjoy to go with the holiday season. One of the many events you can tackle is the Winter Warmth Star Path, and it's a big one.
This is the largest Star Path event we've seen in a while, so there's a lot to learn about it and even more to work through if you want to get it done. Here are all the Winter Warmth Star Path duties and rewards in Disney Dreamlight Valley.
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All Winter Warmth Star Path duties in Disney Dreamlight Valley
There are 110 duties you can complete throughout the full Winter Warmth Star Path event. If you want to claim all available prizes, you'll need to fully finish all of these tasks, plus the weekly routine duties.
All Winter Warmth Star Path routine duties in Disney Dreamlight Valley
In addition to the basic duties, there are also eight weeks of routine duties, with three special tasks in each. These unlock every Wednesday from the start of the event until the end. We'll add these quests as they become available, so you can check back here to learn what needs to be done.
All Winter Warmth Star Path rewards in Disney Dreamlight Valley
The Winter Warmth Star Path event has six pages of rewards, plus three bonus pages with even more prizes. The types of items you can earn throughout this event include clothing, furniture, a special critter Companion, a new house style, and so much more.
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Destructoid Thursday, December 18, 2025 10:04 AM
Fortnite Winterfest 2025 is now live, and it brings a host of different freebies for you to collect.
The popular celebrations are back once again, ushering in plenty of gifts. The central theme is pretty much the same, as all the rewards are obtainable from the Winterfest Cabin. This guide will help you by providing all the information that you need to know.
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All Fortnite Winterfest 2025 presents and what's inside
Here's a list of what you can find inside every Winter Cabin present box. There are five boxes on the right of the room, and nine on the left.
Here's a list of all the present boxes on the right half of the room and what they contain.
Here's a list of all the present boxes on the left half of the room and what's inside.
How to get all Fortnite Winterfest 2025 presents
The process of obtaining the presents begins by visiting the Winterfest Cabin once it arrives inside Fortnite.
You can open one box a day and unlock whatever item is kept in it. Do note that the Winterfest rewards campaign begins at 8am CT/9am ET on Dec. 18.
All Fortnite Winterfest 2025 presents
The Winterfest 2025 event includes plenty of different presents for you to unpack. The item you get will be completely random. The list below includes all the available items present in the boxes mentioned above.
You're also guaranteed two free rewards from the Winterfest 2025 event.
All the remaining items on offer are present in boxes, and you can open them in any order you want.
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Destructoid Thursday, December 18, 2025 8:56 AM
The Winter's Jest event in Phasmophobia brings lots of festive yet spooky changes to the ghost-hunting game. One of the coolest ones is Krampus, a special ghost model that can be found haunting certain locations throughout the season.
Since Krampus isn't always around, you'll want to ensure you get the chance to see him before the event ends. He can be a tough guy to locate, though, so here's how to find Krampus in Phasmophobia.
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Where to find Krampus in Phasmophobia
Krampus can be found anywhere around all of the Winter's Jest event maps, including:
Each day, Krampus will only be haunting four of these maps. You can tell which ones Krampus and his Krampus boxes are at by checking the map board to see which locations are marked with a present icon. The event maps are on a daily rotation schedule, so the spots you can visit change frequently.
Whenever an event map is not marked by this special icon, it goes back to its default form. This also means you won't find jack-in-the-boxes, Naughty-or-Nice List items, and Krampus there, so be sure to check the map board carefully to ensure you travel to the right spot.
Being at the right location is only the first step toward meeting Krampus. The hard part is actually getting him to manifest. Ghosts sometimes randomly appear in ghost events, but there's no way to know when or if these will happen. Hunts are a guaranteed way to catch a glimpse of the ghost, but they're also dangerous.
The only real way to guarantee you see him is by activating a Summing Circle. This Cursed Possession is very deadly, though, so it's best to do it in a custom match with the friendly ghost option toggled on to avoid a pesky ghost hunt.
Krampus is only around as long as the Winter's Jest event is live. It runs from Dec. 16, 2025, to Jan. 6, 2026, so you've got a decent amount of time to meet him before he leaves. He'll also be back in 2026 since Winter's Jest is an annual event.
What does Krampus do in Phasmophobia?
Krampus is a special goat-like ghost with glowing white eyes and an overall unique appearance, but no special abilities outside of this. This ghost is technically responsible for the Krampus boxes and the Naughty-or-Nice List you'll find on the map, but he doesn't actually interact with them at all, so for gameplay purposes, he's just a regular ghost with a special appearance.
What type of ghost is Krampus in Phasmophobia?
Although he has a unique ghost model, Krampus can still be almost any type of ghost in Phasmophobia. There are two big exceptions to this, though, which are the Banshee and the Dayan. Krampus is a male ghost model, which means he will always have a male name and present as a male ghost. Because of this, he cannot be a Banshee or Dayan, as these two ghosts are always female models with female names.
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Destructoid Thursday, December 18, 2025 8:20 AM
The Fortnite Winterfest 2025 celebrations have begun, and there's a new boss in town in the form of the Yule Trooper.
The latest boss has been added as part of the Winterfest 2025 quests, and eliminating him will allow you to transform into Yule Tropper yourself. Moreover, you can also get a new Legendary item by taking down the boss.
This guide will provide you with all the necessary information required to take down the new boss.
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How to find the Yule Trooper in Fortnite
The Yule Trooper doesn't have a fixed location. Epic Games Store has been following this pattern since the Simpsons season, and it's also applicable for the three other bosses in Chapter Seven, Season One. I have completed three rounds and managed to locate him only once.
I spotted the Yule Trooper in the western part of the map at the Bumpy Bay location. However, you can try looking for the entire northern part of the map that's covered in Snow. The Yule Trooper can spawn at any of the POIs in the snow-covered parts of the map. The final location, as I mentioned above, will be random.
All Yule Trooper loot in Fortnite
The Yule Trooper will reward you with two legendary items, which include the medallion required to transform into the new boss. Once transformed, you can activate the Jolly Sprint ability. This ability rewards you with extra stamina and life. However, you'll always be marked on the map, making you an easy target.
Taking down the Yule Trooper also rewards you with his signature Holo Rush SMG. While you can find more common versions of this SMG from chests, the Mythic version is significantly better. You'll also get a few minor rewards after taking down the Yule Trooper.
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Destructoid Thursday, December 18, 2025 8:01 AM
A new set of Winterfest quests is live in Fortnite, and there are two tasks currently available that require you to collect and hand over a Perfect Gift.
The Perfect Gift is a special item that has been added to Fortnite as part of the Winterfest 2025 celebrations. While their locations are random, you can get plenty of special items from them. Alternatively, you can also hand one over to an NPC of your liking to complete two separate quests.
This guide will provide you with all the necessary information.
Table of contents
How to get a Perfect Gift in Fortnite
Perfect Gifts are small gift boxes that can be found inside chests. They have a pink wrap around them and can spawn at random. Sadly, there's no guaranteed way of finding a Perfect Gift for completing the Winterfest quest. It all boils down to your luck.
What you can do, however, is to prioritize opening as many chests as possible. Doing so will raise the odds in your favor. I have completed a couple of rounds and opened over 20 chests combined. I managed to get just one Perfect Gift, which tells everything that you need to know.
Ideally, you'll want to look for chests that are at the base of Christmas Trees. Then again, you're not guaranteed to find them from every chest that you open. Once you find one, you'll be able to pick up to complete the seasonal quest.
How to bring a Perfect Gift to an NPC in Fortnite
This is a pretty easy task to complete. Once you find a Perfect Gift, it will be present in your inventory. Go to any NPC of your liking, and you'll get the option to hand it over to them. Finish the round, and it will complete the task and reward you with extra XP for Chapter Seven, Season One.
If you're yet to find the location of all the NPCs, this guide will help to clear your doubts.
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MonsterVine Thursday, December 18, 2025 11:00 AM Magic: The Gathering kicks off its first proper hard sci-fi set with Edge of Eternities, a set that might just be one of its best in years. Magic: The Gathering – Edge of Eternities Buy Now | Price: $5-$70 So if Final Fantasy was the set that teased me into getting back into collecting physical […] |