Artifact, Valve’s failed card game, came back from the dead recently when the developer posted an update announcing that the game had not been abandoned, and that there are in fact plans to revitalise it. This week, Valve outlined some of the biggest changes in a blog post. First, players will no longer be able to buy cards, which was one of the biggest points of contention with the original launch....

According to the NPD, total videogame industry spending declined 5% year-over-year (yoy) to $4.10 billion. Year-to-date spending sits at $34.6 billion, a 9% decline yoy. For the month of August, hardware sales grew by 14% yoy to $375 million, helped by improved supply of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles. Year-to-date hardware spending declined by 4% to $2.9 billion. PS5 was August’s best-selling console in both unit and dollar sales....

Court documents that have been disclosed ahead of the legal battle proper reveal that PlayStation 4 generated 46.8% of Fortnite’s total revenue from March 2018 until July 2020 – nearly half of the game’s full revenue stream (thanks, The Verge). In contrast, Xbox One was second-highest with only 27.5%, showing that Sony’s last-gen platform really did rake in the players (and the money) at the height of Fortnite’s popularity. In 2019, the game earned a staggering $1....

Trainers around the world expressed their frustration at what they felt was a too low encounter rate for shiny Pokemon over the 2-day special event - which cost $15 to access - with many players reporting much better hauls at previous festivals and community days. 2022’s Global Go Fest was also plagued by a bug that made Pokemon attracted to Incense appear on the map when they had already despawned, further exacerbating the problems for shiny-hunting players....

The new fifth anniversary collection and field research pair nicely with other celebratory elements of the game for this milestone including the return of jump-start research and the debut of a new form of flying Pikachu with balloons. While all this stuff is running, much else about Pokemon continues to tick along in the background, including the current field research missions and egg hatches. On this page, we explain the Fifth Anniversary Collection and its rewards, plus list the Fifth Anniversary field research missions....

With the newest version of Home, you will be able to connect Pokemon Legends: Arceus as well as Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl alongside past games Pokemon Sword and Shield, Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu and Eevee, and Pokemon Go. The update will launch in the coming weeks. If you are unfamiliar with Pokemon Home, it enables you to continue your Pokemon adventures beyond a single game system while managing your collection of creatures across many games; however, the Pokemon you can take to each game is limited to the Pokemon that appear in those games....

Starting today, Pokemon originally discovered in Kalos will also be appearing in Pokemon Go. To celebrate the arrival, you’ll be able to take part in a special event starting tomorrow, December 2 at 10am local time, and running through December 8 at 10pm local time. During this time, Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie, Bunnelby, Fletchling, Litleo, and Noibat will be appearing more frequently in the wild. In addition, Klefki will be appearing in the wild only in France....

The pretty highly anticipated remake of 2008’s Dead Space is due out at the end of the month, looking to breathe some fresh air into the series that hasn’t had a new game since the threequel released a decade ago. You’ll also probably find that the run time isn’t too long for the remake, the original only being 11 hours long, but I’ve got some good news for you if you’ve pre-ordered the game on Steam: you’ll be able to jump right into Dead Space 2, as it appears to be a little bonus for those that have got the game on order....

You can claim all six titles starting August 1. The free games for August are StarCraft: Remastered, Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, Beasts of Maravilla Island, Recompile, ScourgeBringer, and Family Mysteries: Poisonous Promises. This month, Prime members can also claim new in-game content for Pokemon Go, Fall Guys, Roblox, League of Legends, Two Point Hospital, and more. Last year, Prime Gaming had more than 420 million offers claimed by Prime members, which consisted of over 100 free games and over 675 in-game content offers worth thousands of dollars in MSRP value....

According to the NPD, January 2022 consumer spending declined 2% when compared to a year ago, to $4.7 billion. The double-digit percentage gain in hardware spending wasn’t able to offset declines. Hardware dollar sales increased 22% year-over-year (yoy) to $390 million, making it the highest since January 2009 when hardware reached $447 million. PS5 was the best-selling hardware platform of January 2022 in both units and dollars followed by Xbox Series X/S across both measures....

If you live in the U.S., Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand or South Korea, you might be lucky enough to have already received your PS5. For those of us in Europe, the Middle East, South America, Asia, and South Africa there’s only a day left to wait before pre-orders are released and more stock becomes available. Whether you were lucky enough to land a pre-order, or are considering buying one in the near future you might be wondering what the main differences are between the two PS5 consoles....

Sony has confirmed that it’s extending its measures to preserve internet access to the US, by throttling PlayStation Network (PSN) download speeds in the country. The platform holder posted an update to the decision made earlier this week to do the same in Europe. The company said it will “continue to take appropriate action to do our part to help ensure internet stability.” “We are grateful for the role we play in helping deliver a sense of community and entertainment in these very trying times,” added CEO Jim Ryan....

PUBG Studio, developer of the core PC and consoles PUBG game, has announced PUBG: New State, the sequel to PUBG Mobile. Unlike that game (developed by Tencent), however, New State is being made entirely in-house. PUBG: New State is coming to Android and iOS this year, with pre-registration already open on Google Play. As with the original PUBG Mobile, New State will be free-to-play, and it promises to set a new standard for game visuals on mobile....

PUBG is about to drop a lot of new content and changes as the game kicks off Season 8. Patch 8.1, available tomorrow on PC test servers, will give players an early look at everything coming with the new season. Sanhok, the game’s small, tropical map is being “remastered” with new visuals, and overhauls to a number of its key locations. The theme of this change runs counter to its original lush look, with more overgrown and abandoned areas now taking over the map....

This isn’t to knock some of the great PS5 games we’ve seen so far. Astro’s Playroom is a must-play, I’d argue - and it’s free! Demon’s Souls is a strong remaster of a classic. Returnal, while an acquired taste, is brilliant. And there’s a slew of third-party offerings, including cross-generation releases with big PS5 upsides, the most recent of which is Resident Evil Village. But, man. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart....

As reported by Polygon, the NLRB ruled on Friday (April 22) that the 21-person team will be able to vote on whether a union is formed or not. Raven Software parent company Activision Blizzard sought to challenge the QA workers’attempt at unionising earlier in the year, wanting to make all 230 members of staff at Raven Software take part in the vote. According to the NLRB, Raven Software QA workers will have their ballots mailed on April 29, with all ballots being tallied almost a month later on May 23....

Rockstar has finally released the patch notes for last week’s Red Dead Redemption 2 PC patch. The update came out on Monday, May 4, clocking in at 925MB. As expected, it doesn’t add any new content to the base game or Red Dead Online. What it does have in spades, however, are big fixes and various upgrades. One such feature improves texture rendering. Rockstar says players who set textures to Medium or High should see sharper textures without losing any frames....

It looks like asking players to turn off PS5 auto updates was the right call for Returnal developer Housemarque, but perhaps in a way the studio didn’t predict. The game’s latest anticipated patch, version 1.3.3, came out on time Wednesday. Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that something big is wrong with the patch. A number of posts on Reddit, Resetera and elsewhere began popping up immediately after the update’s release....

Loman announced his departure today on Instagram. He founded Gamer Network in 1999 in Brighton, alongside his brother Nick. Over twenty years it has gone on to produce some of the most popular sites in video games media including VG247, RPS and Eurogamer, as well as video sites including Outside Xbox, with a reach over 50 million viewers a month. Its most recent launch is Dicebreaker, a site dedicated to the underserved board game community....

Koei Techmo has announced Samurai Warriors 5 for PC and consoles. The latest iteration of Omega Force’s fan-favorite 1 vs 1,000 action series is currently in development so details on it are a bit slim at the moment. Samurai Warriors 5 marks a fresh, re-imagining of the franchise, including an all-new storyline, as well as revamped character designs, and a new visual presentation. The title launches you into the Sengoku period, shining the in-game spotlight on characters Nobunaga Oda and Mitsuhide Akechi....