A post on X from Electronic Arts reveals STAR WARS Zero Company, a single-player game featuring turn-based tactics coming to PC and consoles. Details are scant, but a full reveal on Saturday will feature Respawn and Bitreactor sharing a first look being called a "world-exclusive," leaving the rest of the galaxy out in the cold. The post points to this page with an image, and this promise:

Tune into the Star Wars Celebration on April 19 for a first look at STAR WARS Zero Company™, a single-player turn-based tactics game coming to PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Metro Franchise Sales are now underway on GOG.com* and Steam. These celebrate the 15th anniversary of 4A Games' FPS series based on Dmitry Glukhovsky's novels set in the Moscow Metro system following an apocalypse. This includes a 100% discount as part of the promotion, and you can pick up Metro 2033 Redux for free on GOG.com and Steam. You have a couple of days to collect and the game will added to your library (protip: the GOG.com version is DRM-free, so it's more "for keeps" than the Steam edition). This remaster of the first installment in the series illustrates how time flies, as it is now over a decade old, after being released only four years after the original. Here's the description:

The year is 2033. An entire generation has been born and raised underground, and their besieged Metro Station-Cities struggle for survival, with each other, and the mutant horrors that await outside. You are Artyom, born in the last days before the fire, but raised underground. Having never ventured beyond the city limits, one fateful event sparks a desperate mission to the heart of the Metro system, to warn the remnants of mankind of a terrible impending threat.

Your journey takes you from the forgotten catacombs beneath the subway to the desolate wastelands above, where your actions will determine the fate of mankind. But what if the real threat comes from within?

Forever Skies is out of Early Access, and this postapocalyptic first-person shooter is available for Windows on Steam as well as for PlayStation 5. This post discusses the game's 22-month Early Access journey, offering a new Launch Trailer to show off version 1.0. Here's more on how this allows you to create and operate your own airship, which somehow manages to fly using only modern technology and no steampunk components(!). Here's word:

You will build and customize a high-tech airship. It will be your home, workshop, laboratory and more while flying above the surface of Earth. Control and steer it towards the ruins of our civilization and mysterious anomalies. Manage your airship hull and its integrity. Extract and gather resources to improve your airship and make it uniquely yours.

Your scientific know-how will allow you to build and operate different machines. Analyze scanned items and reverse engineer lost technology. Research new ways of obtaining food and resources, discover new tools, and increase the chance of your survival.

Get ready to quit that short-order cook job, as Monaco 2 is now available for Windows and consoles, getting the crew back together in Monaco for another heist. You are again tasked with creating and executing the perfect plan, without even the benefit of a Heistotron. The Windows edition is on Steam with a 10% launch discount for those who own the original Monaco. You can also get the discount on both games if you buy them together. The Launch Trailer provides a look, and here's a description that hopes to steal your heart:

Monaco is a city overflowing with luxury and greed, which makes it a perfect target for you and your international gang of criminal masterminds. The best of the best have been assembled, and they’ll need to work together using their unique abilities to rob the city blind. Do you and your friends have what it takes to bring the city of Monaco to its knees?

They say there’s no honor among thieves, but they’ve never met your crew! Team up with up to three other players in local or online multiplayer and plan your heist. However, nothing ever goes exactly according to plan in Monaco, so you’ll need to work together and improvise if you want to get away with your haul of riches.

Warside is now available for Windows and Linux on Steam, offering what First Break Labs and LAVABIRD call "a modern iteration on the classic turn-based-tactics formula." The Launch Trailer shows these modern elements do not extend to the graphics, which have a distinctive throwback quality. But it promises fast-paced turn-based tactics, and the description does acknowledge this tribute to the past:

Embrace the iconic visuals and turn-based tactical style from beloved wargames of the past in Warside. Take charge as one of fourteen powerful Commanders, each touting distinct passive skills and Battle Powers. Wield these boons to change the tide of war and ensure victory through 30+ missions in a robust single-player Story Campaign.

March a variety of specialist infantry into the thick of battle, including snipers, medics, mortar teams, and more to take opponents down and keep allies standing when needed most. Deploy more than thirty unit types including artillery, tanks, submarines, and warships to control land, air, and sea as ground forces, aircraft, and naval units respectively.

FUBUKI ～zero in on Holoearth～ HOLOLIVE ALTERNATIVE is now available on Steam with a 15% launch discount, offering an action/platformer for Windows with a title that just rolls off the tongue. It promises high-speed gameplay and pixel art graphics to recall a bygone era, as shown off in the Launch Trailer. This is so straightforward there are almost more words in the title than the description:

『FUBUKI ~zero in on Holoearth~』is a high-speed pixel action game where you control the protagonist, Shirakami Fubuki, and battle using swords and skills.

• Night is Coming on Steam (Windows). "Survival strategy game set in a world inspired by Slavic mythology and the nature of Eastern Europe. Build your settlement, protect its dwellers, and help them prepare for the coming Darkness."

• The Horror At Highrook - Release Date Trailer. Card-based horror on May 1st.
• Knights of the Crusades - Release Date Announcement. Strategy/sim on May 5th.
• Sipssassin Release Date Trailer. Stealth/action parody on May 2nd.
• Static Dread. Release Date Trailer. Lovecraftian horror game on August 7th.

• Call Of Duty 2025 Leak Suggests A Black Ops 2 Sequel And Tranzit Return - GameSpot.
• "We have no official information on an Oblivion remake," say Bethesda, which isn't a denial, is it - Rock Paper Shotgun.

• Dragon Age Creator Says BioWare’s Two Major Teams Didn’t Get Along - GameRant.

• Become The Architect- CAD Software & Tutorials (pay what you want and help charity) - Humble.*

*Blue's News may receive a commission on sales of this item.

• The Last Of Us Season 2 Premiere Viewership Up 10% Over Season 1 - Deadline.

Official patches.

• Baldur's Gate 3's Patch 8 is among its biggest, holding 48 pages (approx. 19,000-20,000 words) of patch notes in its vast and bountiful form - PC Gamer.
• Darkest Dungeon II - Kingdoms - Secrets of the Coven is Available Now.
• The Last of Us Part II Remastered PC - Patch 1.1 Hotfix.
• Space Engineers 2 Alpha- Vertical Slice 1.2 released.
• Wild Woods - New Player Role & Lobby UI.
• Yield! Fall of Rome -- Challenges of Gods Update.

• Ubisoft’s Colorblind Simulation Tool, Chroma, Now Available For Public Use.

Official trailers.

• Darkest Dungeon II: Secrets of the Coven Kingdoms Trailer.
• Disney Dreamlight Valley Developer Update - Wonderland Whimsy Update.
• Skull and Bones- Year 2 Announcements Trailer.
• Tomo: Endless Blue ► Official Reveal Trailer (ft. Ai Higuchi and Cécile Corbel).

• Survive the Fall- The First Preview - IGN.

• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown - Mobile Launch Trailer.

• Scientists made a stretchable lithium battery you can bend, cut, or stab - Ars Technica.

• SSL-TLS certificates will last 47 days max by 2029 • The Register.

• Intel is selling off a majority stake in chip-maker Altera for $4.46 billion - Engadget.
• AMD RX 9060 XT specs leak- Navi 44 takes on Nvidia's RTX 5060 Ti with 8 and 16GB flavors, 3.2 GHz boost clocks - Tom's Hardware.
• Amazon paid out more to Jeff Bezos than its actual CEO in 2024 - TechRadar. Just like Goldfinger earned more than Oddjob.
• SyncFolders version 3.6.199. Thanks Rhialto.

• OpenAI debuts its GPT-4.1 flagship AI model - The Verge.
• Meta will start using data from EU users to train its AI models - Engadget.
• Government-funded AI tool developed to help monitor and manage nuclear reactors - Tom's Hardware.

• Congressman Eric Swalwell demands briefing on CISA cuts • The Register.

• Zuckerberg’s 2012 email dubbed “smoking gun” at Meta monopoly trial - Ars Technica.
• 'Delete all IP law' says Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey - PC Gamer. We get it. Rich guys hate laws.

• Days After Launching In Early Access, This New Steam Game Is Shutting Down - GameSpot…

Last Link of the Day: Uranus, are you there? NASA's Hubble discovers we've been wrong since 1986. I was hoping this was about the pronunciation.

Brightika and YEETERS TEAM announce BULLET YEETERS, a third-person PvP shooter coming to PC in May and to consoles at some point thereafter. Players are tiny characters in the comparatively gigantic setting of an ordinary house, battling it out for the memes by yeeting bullets at each other. As seen in this gameplay trailer, like a teeny-tiny TRIBES, locomotion includes jetpacks, so the sky's the limit. Or at least the ceiling is. The Steam Listing is live, carrying the following description:

Get ready for high-flying mayhem where tiny agents with big guns turn your home into a battlefield! Bullet Yeeters is a chaotic third-person shooter with jetpack-powered movement, over-the-top physics, and explosive action in giant household environments.

Master aerial movement and outmaneuver your enemies mid-air. Use your jetpack to dodge, strafe, and surprise from above.

Fire Foot Studios announces Jester: A Foolish Ritual, a co-op survival/horror game set in the depths of a dungeon. Players are resurrected knights on a looting mission, and one would assume it's hard to frighten someone who's already been dead. But they must face the looming threat of encountering the Jester, who is more of a Harley Quinn than a harlequin, so that won't be funny. This dynamic is seen in the Official Teaser Trailer. Future platform plans are a mystery, as word is this will be "on Steam first," and the listing there says it's "coming soon." Here's more:

You awaken in an abandoned castle, trapped with no way out. The only path to freedom lies in performing a sacred ritual to banish the monstrous Jester who haunts these halls.

Each run will be different, you will have to try your best and adapt as you venture through the cursed castle while watching out for lingering traps. The Jester might even leave some of his jack boxes lurking around. If you trigger them... he will come for you!

• Autogun Heroes: Supercharged on Steam (Windows). "Blast your way through alien-infested planets and help Gus rescue powerful heroes, one by one, to save the galaxy. This challenging 2D action platformer combines intense shoot-'em-up chaos with smooth, responsive controls. Dodge. Roll. Dominate!"

• Hotel Architect - Final Playtest Trailer.

• Shotgun Cop Man - Release Date Reveal Trailer. May 1st.

• "Marathon is going to launch as a premium product, meaning players will be asked to pay full price." Wario64 on X.
• Marathon’s director explains why it isn’t free-to-play- ‘Everyone has their own definition of what’s the right price’ - VGC.
• Civilization 7 being compared to Humankind is "probably the best compliment I ever got", says Amplitude boss - Rock Paper Shotgun.
• Blizzard Has A 10-Year Plan For Diablo IV According To Series General Manager - Wccftech.

• 'Minecraft' Box Office- Video Game Adaptation Adds Massive $80 Million - Variety.
• The Last of Us Season 2 Cast Guide: All the Characters From Video Game - Variety.
• Borderlands film director blames flop on Zoom and Covid - Eurogamer.net.

• The powerful Meta Quest 3S is $30 off at multiple retailers - The Verge.

• 『HYKE-Northern Light(s)』 Trailer - Releasing Summer 2025.
• Magical Princess - Announcement Trailer.
• MotoGP 25 - Beyond The Grid.

↑ Official trailers. ↓ Content creator videos.

• Super Mario Bros. but it's RAINING LAVA! - Level Up. Thanks Ant.

• PS5 price to rise in Europe, Australia and New Zealand – PlayStation.Blog.

• Apple Watch Activity challenge marks 10 years of encouraging exercise as Apple Store to carry physical pin to celebrate - 9to5Mac.

• An Ars Technica history of the Internet, part 1 - Ars Technica.

• Trump says new chip tariffs will be announced next week - Tom's Hardware.
• Microsoft warns that anyone who deleted mysterious folder that appeared after latest Windows 11 update must take action to put it back - TechRadar.
• 33-year-old AmigaOS for Commodore computers gets an unexpected update - Tom's Hardware. Thanks Slashdot via Ant.
• Should you buy a used graphics card? - Tom's Hardware.

• NVIDIA to Manufacture American-Made AI Supercomputers in US for First Time - NVIDIA Blog.
• OpenAI used to test its AI models for months - now it's days. Why that matters - ZDNET.
• This AI already writes 20% of Salesforce's code. Here's why developers aren't worried - VentureBeat.

• Vulnerability Summary for the Week of April 7, 2025 - CISA. Thanks Ant.

• Meta's antitrust trial could force Zuckerberg to sell Instagram - BBC.

• AIR - Christ Centered Gamer.

• CPU/GPU/AIO/SSD Cooler: be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 650W power supply review - Tom's Hardware.
• CPU/GPU/AIO/SSD Cooler: be quiet! Silent Loop 3 Liquid CPU Cooler Review - ThinkComputers.org.
• Dock: AVerMedia Elite Go GC313Pro - APH Networks.
• Graphics Card: Yeston Sakura Atlantis Radeon RX 9070 XT Review - Neoseeker.
• Mouse: DAREU A950 Wing Review - TechPowerUp.

My concern that MrsBlue's foot injury might be serious is easing, as she's getting around a lot better and says it's less painful all the time. Her relief is a relief, as feet are super-complicated mechanically, containing over a quarter of the bones in our bodies, and I'm aware (not from personal experience, thankfully), that foot problems can be difficult to treat and a nightmare to endure. So here's hoping she's right, and this won't be an issue.

Obituary: Peru's Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel prize-winning novelist, dies at 89 - Reuters. Thanks brother19.
Obituary: Jean Marsh Dead: 'Upstairs, Downstairs' Actress, Co-Creator Was 90 - The Hollywood Reporter.

Foot-long Round-up
Thanks Ant, Neutronbeam, and Max.

Breakfast Links

• 'The Breakfast Club' Stars Reunite For First Time Since Film's Release - Deadline.
• New urinal designs aim to please, with less splashing - Boing Boing. More splashing models less successful.

Story

• Aimee Lou Wood calls SNL White Lotus sketch 'mean and unfunny' - BBC.

Science

• Sleeping Black Hole Erupts in Real Time – Blasting Out Record-Breaking X-Rays - SciTechDaily.
• High school student uses AI to reveal 1.5 million previously unknown objects in space - Phys.org.

Media

• Why Did Starfleet Use a Saucer? - Certifiably Ingame.
• Death to Nickels.
• Ultra Realistic Blender 3D Physics Challenges (Extreme Loops).

Follow-up

• Blue Origin spaceflight live updates- Katy Perry and Gayle King launch on space tourism rocket - CNN.