Today, Square Enix® announced that the much-anticipated, debut title from studio Luminous Productions, Forspoken, is now available globally on the PlayStation®5 (PS5™) console and PC via STEAM®, Epic Games Store, and the Microsoft Store. In this story-driven action-RPG, players will become extraordinary while utilizing magic-enhanced parkour and wielding a vast array of powerful spells and abilities in order to save the lands of Athia.

Square Enix and Luminous Productions also released a free playable PC demo (via STEAM®, Epic Games Store and Microsoft Store) today. In the PC demo, players will face-off with a variety of enemies and test their fighting abilities with an extensive arsenal of attack and support magic that will prepare them for the high-octane action they can expect to encounter in the full game.

Over the next few months, our sole focus is to address the feedback that many of you have. In particular, we will focus on delivering a complete crafting system, a more rewarding progression loop, and continue to work on game stability and performance optimization.

This also means that we will delay our seasonal content rollout and the Xbox Series X|S launch. We will also suspend the upcoming releases of premium cosmetics. We just couldn’t continue down this path, knowing that we have not addressed many feedback areas in the game today.

Wielding both blade and magic, it is your duty to protect the floating Celestial Islands from powerful opponents who seek to corrupt them. Challenge your fate and build your card deck to defeat foes and complete missions. Evolve your character with every playthrough, and become the Mahokenshi the world needs.

Where will you start your journey? Will you hail from the sturdy House of Sapphire? The cunning House of Topaz? The fierce House of Ruby? Or the secretive House of Jade? Each house draws its strength from a different elemental spirit and allows you to create different playstyles.

The End of the Sun is a first-person exploration and adventure story-based game, set in the world of Slavic rites, beliefs and legends. The small village becomes a place of mysterious events, through which the line between myth and reality begins to fade perilously.

As the ashter (Slavic sorcerer) who is gifted with the ability to travel in time and knowledge about Navia (the otherworld where human fates shape), following the trail of the unusual fugitive, you come to a mysterious village . Unfortunately, you cannot find anyone there, at least not in a way you expected to. All you can see around are burned hearths.

In Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters, you play as the Goddess Candidates, led by Nepgear, who awaken from a two-year-long slumber to a Gamindustri that has been upended by a treacherous threat called the Trendi Phenomenon. While they've been sleeping, the citizens of Gamindustri have turned to using a new device called the rPhone as their main method of communication as they've been unable to leave their homes while monsters lurk outside.

Now, work together with friends both new and old to prevent the total destruction of Gamindustri as we know it!

• Rumor: Bethesda and Tango Gameworks to Announce Shooter Called -Hi-Fi Rush- in Developer Direct Show.

• Iceberg Publisher Sale 2023 on Steam.
• Save 50% on Beyond: Two Souls on Steam.
• Save 90% on Titanfall 2 on Steam.
• Save 80% on Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint on Steam.
• Save 70% on Godhood on Steam.

• Microsoft offers lackluster guidance, says new business growth slowed in December.
• Proletariat unionization vote request dropped. Workers of the world untie!
• Washington Post Shuts Down Gaming Section Amid Wider Layoffs.
• Blizzard is sounding out how much players will pay for a Hearthstone subscription.

• Blooming Terror – Building The Last of Us episode 2.

• Diablo II: Resurrected PTR 2.6—New Rune Words Now Live.
• Fallout 76 Update Notes – January 24, 2023.
• League of Legends Patch 13.1B notes.
• Overwatch 2 Retail Patch Notes – January 24, 2023.
• Risen Patch & Ports live.
• World of Warcraft Dragonflight: 10.0.5 Content Update Notes.

• Whoops! The latest Destiny 2 hotfix deleted a bunch of incredibly hard-to-earn achievements.

• For Honor: Warrior's Den Y6S4 Short Story Teaser.
• The Making Of Scars Above: The Art (Part I).

↑ Official trailers. ↓ Content creator videos.

• The horror of playing with inverted controls #shorts - Viva La Dirt League (nsfw).
• I made a port of Xixit to the X16 - The 8-Bit Guy.

• Announcing the 36 Teams Competing in the 2023 Overwatch World Cup — Overwatch 2.

• World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King Classic: Ulduar Now Live.

• Forspoken Purple Magic guide: How to get the most out of your spells.
• Forspoken Starter Guide - 5 Tips to Hit the Ground Running.

• Microsoft says Xbox monthly active users hit a record 120 million.
• Microsoft's Changes to Xbox Console Leave Republicans Outraged.
• Xbox Insider Release Notes - Beta (2302.230119-0930). Thanks Console General.

• Narcos: Cartel Wars Unlimited - Official Release Trailer - Netflix.

• ChatGPT is 'not particularly innovative,' and 'nothing revolutionary', says Meta's chief AI scientist. Obviously, when compared with the "Like" button.
• 'Honestly, this sucks,' says Chess.com as its servers can't keep up with chess's explosive popularity. Inevitable once vibrating anal beads got involved.

• Corsair Gaming to Report Q4 2022 Financial Results on February 9.

• GoTo says hackers stole customers' backups and encryption key. Thanks DSLReports via Ant.
• Fujitsu- Quantum computers no threat to encryption just yet.
• Crooks are already exploiting this bug in old iPhones.

• DOJ files second antitrust suit against Google, seeks to break up its ad business.
• FBI says North Korean hackers responsible for $100M Harmony Horizon Bridge crypto heist.
• Twitter sued by Crown Estate over alleged unpaid rent at UK HQ.
• Administrator of RSOCKS Proxy Botnet Pleads Guilty.

• Twitter Has A Lot Of Useless Video Game Knowledge…

Earlier this week, systems in our development environment were compromised via a social engineering attack. We don’t have all the answers right now, but we wanted to communicate early and let you know there is no indication that player data or personal information was obtained.

Today, we received a ransom email. Needless to say, we won’t pay.

While this attack disrupted our build environment and could cause issues in the future, most importantly we remain confident that no player data or player personal information was compromised.

Truthfully, any exposure of source code can increase the likelihood of new cheats emerging. Since the attack, we’ve been working to assess its impact on anticheat and to be prepared to deploy fixes as quickly as possible if needed.

We are aware of potential new exploits in GTA Online for PC, which we aim to resolve in an upcoming planned security-related Title Update.

If you think you might have experienced any related issues, please reach out to Rockstar Support: support.rockstargames.com

We’re thrilled to pull back the curtain and release Exodus SDK for you all to play with for free! To run it, you just need to have Metro Exodus (2019) or Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition installed on your machine. This isn’t just simple mod support – we’re giving you our full Editor as it was the day we released Metro Exodus, with the ability to create standalone content run from a basic executable. We’ve integrated Mod.io support, so it’s really easy to manage and share your content. If you also know visual script, our Visual Script Editor leaves the doors wide open with possibilities, so get creative! Along with some tutorial levels and as an example of a fully featured, shipped level, we’ve included a full unpacked Metro Exodus sandbox level for you to tear apart using our tools. Feel yourself a 4A Games team member – we’ve provided you with everything our Designers, Artists, and Animators have access to!

This new Game Ready Driver provides the best day-0 gaming experience for the latest new games supporting NVIDIA DLSS 3 technology including Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Hitman 3, and Deliver Us Mars. Additionally, this Game Ready Driver supports the launch of titles supporting NVIDIA DLSS technology including Dead Space and Forspoken.

Fixed Bugs

• Adobe Premiere Pro, Photoshop, and Lightroom instability with 528.02 [3940086]
• Adobe Photoshop 24.1 application instability with 528.02 when using GeForce Experience [3940488]
• Adobe Premiere Pro: ProRes RAW files appear completely black when previewing [3924753]
• Autodesk Alias: Expected transparent window appears opaque [3891620]
• OctaneBench 2020 fails intermittently due to render engine failure [3880988]

Based on Bernard Werber’s best-seller, Empire of the Ants will offer a strategic experience close to the iconic books series.

Experience immersive adventures and defend your lands through tactical and strategic battles in a microscopic world of epic proportions.

Exploration, strategy, combat skills, but most of all, the local wildlife alliance will be necessary in order to emerge victorious from the many challenges that await you.

Players take on the role of Ernest Hemingwhale, the sole remaining inhabitant of Fin, the mechanical whale. Fin is not only Ernest’s home but also his close friend. When mysterious and dangerous Squiddies begin taking over Fin’s body, he doesn’t hesitate to take down the slimy threats. The origin of the mischievous little beings is not the only secret to discover. The mechanical whale is filled with little details and even more unexpected guests, the Springpeople. Whatever they are up to remains to be seen.

Ernest must use both his wits and special gloves and pearls - appropriately named Mr. Push and Mrs. Pull - to manipulate objects in the environment, solve puzzles, and send the Squiddies packing. Through unique, vibrant, and colorful environments, players delve deep into the inner workings of Fin, meet loveable characters, and help protect not only Ernest’s home but also his friend.

• Unannounced Tango Gameworks game leaks ahead of Xbox Developer_Direct.

• Unions and Video Games - The New York Times.
• Blizzard China: Millions of players lose access to 'World of Warcraft' and other games as it goes dark.
• Video Game Industry Hit with Layoffs.
• Ubisoft hires Battlefront 2 creative director to ‘shape social interactions’ in its future games.

• Star Trek Picard's Enterprise-F- From Games to TV. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• "Last of Us" Pair Talk Fungus & Clickers. Thanks Ant.

• Dune: Spice Wars - "Line In The Sand" Community Update - Available Now.
• FINAL FANTASY XIV Patch 6.31 Notes.
• Fortnite X Dead Space.
• StarCraft II 5.0.11 Patch Notes.
• Steam Beta Client- January 23rd.
• Steam Deck Client Beta- January 23rd.
• World of Warcraft — Hotfixes- January 23, 2023.
• World War Z: Aftermath - Horde Mode XL is OUT NOW.

↑ Official patches. ↓ Unofficial games, patches, and mods.

• New Cyberpunk 2077 HD Texture Packs improve the textures of NPCs faces, hair & beards.

• Monster Energy Supercross: The Official Videogame 6 - Journey Trailer.
• The Making Of Scars Above: The Art (Part I).

↑ Official trailers. ↓ Content creator videos.

• Half-Life 2- VR Mod - Episode One — Announcement Trailer.
• Square Enix Blockbuster Touts Bogus Accolades In Launch Trailer.

• Trackmania World Tour Super Weekend recap. Thanks Frans.

• GDC details 2023 format, COVID precautions.

• Xbox Insider Release Notes - Alpha Skip-Ahead (2308.230119-2000).
• Xbox Insider Release Notes - Alpha (2302.230119-0930).
• This Week's Deals with Gold and Spotlight Sale - Xbox Wire.

• Steam Deck survey suggests devs are unsure about its future.
• Android 14 Could Start Blocking Older Apps from Being Installed.
• Perfectly Good MacBooks From 2020 Are Being Sold for Scrap Because of Activation Lock.
• Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra specifications revealed in full.

• Microsoft Edge will soon let you split two tabs in a single window.
• Microsoft extends Edge support on Windows Server 2012 and R2 to October 2023.

• Intel planning hundreds of job cuts.
• NVIDIA Studio Driver version 528.24.
• ChatGPT users report $42 a month pricing for ‘pro’ access but no official announcement yet. But, of course, the article may be authored by AI. Thanks Slashdot.
• Rentokil turns to AI rat recognition to analyze populations. Thanks DSLReports.
• Demand for AI skills on the rise as Fiverr searches spike for freelancers.
• GeForce RTX 3060 Ti GDDR6X is faster than factory overclocked GDDR6 model.
• Gunnir Quietly Reveals Intel Arc A380 in MXM Form-Factor.
• Noctua Releases Low Profile AMD Coolers for up to 65W CPUs.
• AMD, Intel and Nvidia GPU Driver Sizes Compared- Feature Creep.
• Microsoft updates Snipping Tool with the ability to pause screen recording.
• Zawinski: mozilla.org's 25th anniversary.
• WinRAR Final version 6.20. Thanks DSLReports.
• WinSCP version 5.21.7.

• Blizzard once again bans Overwatch 2 'sexual harassment simulator,' but not before it reappeared in the popular list.
• Russia’s largest ISP says 2022 broke all DDoS attack records. Bonuses for everyone! Thanks DSLReports via Ant.
• New malware dubbed -Hook- allows hijacking and real-time spying on Android devices.
• China Is the World’s Biggest Face Recognition Dealer (may require registration or subscription).
• Beijing warns of enhanced surveillance during New Year.
• Yahoo was the most phished brand of 4Q'22, according to research.
• Ticketmaster blames cyber attack for disrupting Taylor Swift tour sale.

• Musk testifies, claims tweet that judge ruled false was “absolutely truthful.”

• Game Controller: Turtle Beach VelocityOne Flightstick - Christ Centered Gamer.
• Headset/Earbuds: Astell&Kern x Campfire Audio PATHFINDER In-Ear Monitors Review - TechPowerUp.
• Misc: Icy Dock MB104U-1SMB und MB031U-1SMB EZ-Adapter - OCinside (German).
• Motherboard: ASRock B650 Live Mixer AM5 Motherboard Review - TweakTown.
• RAM: Kingston FURY Beast DDR4 RGB Special Edition 2x16 3600MHz - LanOC Reviews.
• Router: Reyee RG-E5 WiFi 6 Router Review - TechPowerUp.
• SSD: KIOXIA BG5 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD - Nikk Tech.

• ResetEra bans discussion of Hogwarts Legacy and JK Rowling…

Eye of the Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Breakfast Link

• Finally! KFC Launches Fried Chicken Incense Sticks. Hopefully will attract as many seagulls as a KFC dumpster. Thanks Boing Boing.

Stories

• Mother Sneaks Into Arlington HS Dressed As Student To Watch Daughter Fight, Police Say.
• Killer octopus: venomous sea creature ends up on restaurant diner’s plate in China and moments from being eaten. No tasty fish? Thanks Max.
• I’m a corporate fraud investigator. You wouldn’t believe the hubris of the super-rich. Thanks Digg.

Science

• Earth’s Core Has Stopped and May Be Reversing Direction, Study Says.
• Do Weather Changes Make Pain From Injuries Worse? My elbow says yes!

Media

• The Stickiest Non-Sticky Substance.
• Peter Capaldi reads a letter from WW1 Captain Reginald John Armes to his wife. Thanks The Flying Penguin.

Creature Features
Thanks Kxmode.

• One for all, all for one! 😊.
• No treat, no paw...😅.
• Cat who accidentally hung itself from roof saved by stranger. Whew. Thanks Console General.