Hysterra has broken out, as Early Access to RailGods of Hysterra is now underway for Windows on Steam, beginning a Story Lord-free co-op survival adventure from Digital Vortex Entertainment and Troglobytes Games. In this up to five players must confront Lovecraftian horrors, which can be glimpsed if you train your eyes on the Early Access Launch Trailer. The news is celebrated in this post, which discusses what to expect right now, while also laying out a roadmap (railmap?) of what to expect between now and an official launch at a to be determined date. Here's word:

In RailGods of Hysterra, the world has been devastated by the arrival of the Great Old Ones –cosmic beings of unimaginable power. As a Dreamer, awoken from the Dreamlands and inseparably bound to your RailGod, you must survive in a reality twisted by madness. Shuttle between the last outposts while exploring gloomy, mysterious landscapes haunted by sinister cultists and nightmarish creatures inspired by Lovecraft's narrative universe.

The Classic Offensive Website now displays the hashtag #AllowClassicOffensive along with a message saying "Valve has requested we do not distribute Classic Offensive," a mod intended to recreate the gameplay from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (thanks Reddit). This links to a timeline showing that the run-up to launching the mod was rocky, as Steam's guidelines for allowable mods shifted along the way, despite the team being told its project would be allowed as far back as 2017. This is discussed in the Classic Offensive FAQ which raises questions about whether Valve's overall stance on modding its games has changed:

By further digging into Valve's statement: the past three decades of Valve modding, and Valve's stance on modding with the recently updated Distributing Source Engine Games / Mods guidelines, shows that they are now against general modding of their games.

While they have licenses for using some of their tools like Hammer, modding as a whole only applies to a very small list of their games and must solely be done using Source SDK 2013:
- Half-Life 2
- Team Fortress 2
Valve can at any time take action on any unlicensed mod or "skin" for any reason, this includes the Portal, Counter-Strike, Day of Defeat, Left 4 Dead franchises, despite their history with modding and various websites distributing mods like GameBanana, ModDB, Nexus Mods and more.

NCSoft announces that Blade & Soul NEO is "coming soon" to Steam, which will broaden access to this remastered open-world MMORPG that launched on its PURPLE platform earlier this year. For a refresher, we have the previously released Launch Trailer and a 20 Minute Features Showcase Trailer. Read on for more:

A modern reinterpretation of the original Blade & Soul's wuxia-themed fantasy world, Blade & Soul NEO enables gamers the opportunity to relive the original storyline as a hero determined to restore honor to their clan.

Players immediately join the well-known Hongmoon Clan, led by Master Hong, only to witness its sudden destruction by the villainess Jinsoyun and her accomplices, Yura and Gubong. Left to die, MMORPG fans will begin their journey of discovery, intrigue, and adventure, solo or with friends.

MicroProse announces it is the publisher for Afterconflict, an upcoming Cold War first-person shooter in the works at Afterconflict Development. This is described as "ruthlessly authentic," which is a bit of an exaggeration since it's set in the late stages of an alternate-history World War III. There's the chance to play a Windows tech demo right now on Steam, where the game is said to be "coming soon." Here's more:

MicroProse is proud to announce that it will publish Afterconflict, a brutally realistic Cold War-era tactical FPS set in an alternate late-stage World War III. Developed with military simulation purists in mind, Afterconflict puts players into the boots of NATO and Warsaw Pact soldiers locked in unforgiving battle across the scarred landscapes of a divided Europe.

As a first taste of the game’s meticulous realism, a new Tech Demo is now available on Steam. Players can try their hand at the game’s Firing Range — though mastering even basic shooting mechanics won’t come easy.

Early Access to Survival Machine is now underway on Steam, offering a game that allows you to take your base-building survival on the road via the game's titular machine. Grapes Pickers, Games Operators, and PlayWay offer a Release Trailer and a playable demo to draw you in and a 20% discount in an effort to close the deal. Here's more:

Survival Machine is a 4 player co-op, 3rd person, survival-adventure game set in vibrant, diverse landscapes. Navigate the ever-changing world aboard the colossal Machine that doubles as your fortress, homestead, and transport. Whether braving the game solo or with friends, explore biomes full of random challenges to gather resources, craft new upgrades, and build structures that will help you survive.

Activision announces an event tomorrow to show off Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4, the upcoming skateboard game remakes. This will take place at 9:00 pm EDT in the historic El Rey Theatre, but for those who can't make it to Los Angeles, there will be a livestream on Twitch so you can watch from wherever you are. Word is: "This event is a tribute to the artists and skaters who have cemented Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 as the greatest of all time in both gaming and skate culture." Here's more:

The excitement will be broadcast globally via an exclusive Twitch livestream. Join hosts Salema Masakela, Steezus and Nora Vacsoncellos by tuning in starting at 6:00 PM PT / 9:00 PM ET for:

• Interviews with beloved skaters featured in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4
• Gameplay sneak peeks featuring top skaters and creators
• Live musical performances by Lupe Fiasco, Danny Brown, Adolescents and Urethane

• Touhou Spell Carnival on Steam (Windows). "Strategy RPG Meets Bullet Hell Mania — Battle in a grid system with a unique blend of real-time strategy elements and bullet hell madness! Hone your strategy skills by moving characters to grid-specific areas, grazing enemy bullets, and unleashing special skills in one simultaneous, action-packed battle!"

• Props for the honesty: Tim Sweeney says the reason 'people characterize the Epic Games launcher as clunky' is—wait for it—'because the Epic Games launcher is clunky' - PC Gamer.

• Save 70% on Urbek City Builder on Steam.
• Save 30% on Cuphead on Steam.
• Save 20% on WARRIORS: Abyss on Steam.
• Save 40% on Scene Investigators on Steam.
• 9 Circles of Bullet Hell: A Survivors Bundle (pay what you want and help charity) - Humble.*

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

• EA suggests it has no plans to raise game prices yet despite others doing so - VGC.
• EA says business primed for 'accelerated growth' following layoffs - Game Developer.

• GTA 6 Trailer 2 Smashes Record For Quickest Time To Reach 1m Likes On YouTube. - r/GTA6.

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Success Continues as Its Soundtrack Tops Billboard Classical Music Album Charts - IGN.

Official patches.

• Starship Troopers: Extermination - Update 1.4 Patch Notes.

Official trailers.

• ARC Raiders - Thank you, Raiders.
• Fortnite - Pull of the Force - Fortnite Galactic Battle Gameplay Trailer.
• God Save Birmingham - PAX East 2025 Demo Gameplay Walkthrough by Dev - No Commentary.
• RoadCraft - Sandbox Memories Trailer.

• Remedy's next big game is being made for less money, but can still be great, CEO says - Game File.

• EVE Vanguard Makes A Lot of Big Promises, But Delivers Good Gunplay - IGN.
• Elden Ring Nightreign - Raider Class Hands-On Impressions - IGN First.

• Alruna and the Necro-Industrialists - Launch Trailer - Nintendo Switch.

• Samsung is hosting a virtual Unpacked event on May 12 at 8PM ET - Engadget.

• MrBeast's 'Beast Games' Renewal For Two Season Eyed At Amazon MGM Studios - Deadline.

• Meet Amazon’s robot, Vulcan, the first with a sense of touch - CNBC.
• What were the intended uses of those icons in moricons.dll- - The Old New Thing. Thanks Anatoly Shashkin via Ant.
• Release UniGetUI 3.2.0 · marticliment-UniGetUI · GitHub. Thanks Console General.

• NVIDIA’s Rama Akkiraju on How AI Platform Architects Help Bridge Business Vision and Technical Execution - NVIDIA Blog.
• Cadence Taps NVIDIA Blackwell to Accelerate AI-Driven Engineering Design and Scientific Simulation - NVIDIA Blog.

• Which mobile browser is the worst for data collection- • The Register. Wait, how did you guess?

• The FTC has lost its appeal against Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard - VGC. Would have been funny watching them try to put the toothpaste back in the tube if the FTC had prevailed.
• Exclusive: US lawmaker targets Nvidia chip smuggling to China with new bill - Reuters.
• Delta Air Lines class action cleared for takeoff • The Register.

Last Link of the Day: Black smoke signals first day of Vatican conclave has failed to elect new pope - The papacy - The Guardian.

Captain Blood is now available for PC and consoles, and the Windows and macOS edition of this seafaring action game is on the Epic Games Store, GOG.com,* and Steam with a 10% launch discount. This will take players to the Spanish Main of the 17th century to engage in some of the piracy for which the setting is so famous. Traveling the seas by sail is time-consuming, but this news still reflects an extremely long voyage. The game's first mention here was 21 years ago when 1C Company put a product page online, and in 2006 it was delayed until 2007. Somewhere along the way its title became Age of Pirates: Captain Blood, but this has reverted back to just Captain Blood. By 2010, the big news was a new website, which is now only suited to those desperate to find a Filipino Casino. Wikipedia says the project was abandoned somewhere along the way due to legal issues, and at some point it was declared "vaporware." But Captain Blood must have lawyered up at some point, because here he is. 1C Company is out of the picture, and this is developed by Seawolf Studio & General Arcade and published by SNEG. It carries a 10% launch discount, and there's a playable demo on GOG.com and Steam. Here's the Launch Trailer and here are some details:

Captain Blood is a pirate-themed action game set on the Spanish Main in the 17th century, where you step into the boots of a fearsome pirate on a quest for gold and glory. Expect wild adventures with cannon firing, pistol shooting, swashbuckling sword fights, and plenty of pirate shenanigans. This action-packed hack'n'slash features fierce hand-to-hand combat, hordes of enemies, and a classic fighting system with flashy combos and epic finishers. Prepare for intense deck battles where you can fire the ship's cannons and fend off blood-thirsty boarding crews. Collect gold to upgrade your fighting skills, buy new weapons, and become the most feared buccaneer on the high seas. Fight for wealth and glory!

Early Access is now underway on Steam for La Quimera, a sci-fi first-person shooter for Windows set in a dystopian Latin America from developer Reburn. It is described as story-driven, and the Early Access Launch Trailer revels in that along with a look at gameplay. A quick search tells us quimera is Spanish for chimera, the mythical hybrid creature of Greek mythology. The description does not explain the connection:

Year 2064. The majority of nation states have become extinct. A series of natural and human-caused catastrophes in the 2030s and 2040s triggered the collapse of global systems, led to the fragmentation of human communities. The political entities in this new world are microstates and even amidst the current inter-state and corporate conflicts, typically see no point in maintaining their own armies, having to rely on mercenary forces — the "golden age" of private military companies, so called PMCs, has arrived. As PMC operatives, you’ll take on intense high-risk campaign in a dystopian world of future Latin America across a breathtaking megalopolis and lush jungle combining highly advanced weaponry and technology battling against rival factions.

Tsukuyomi: The Divine Hunter is now free-to-play for Windows on Steam, dealing out a roguelike card game designed by Kazuma Kaneko. The description includes this warning about AI-generated content: "The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this: Cards are automatically generated based on gameplay logs." Here's the deal:

• Deckbuilding Roguelike In this dungeon-exploration game, players use a variety of cards with different abilities to battle enemies and make their way forward. Each run is unique—the types of cards you acquire and the structure of the dungeon change every time you play. Lose a battle, and everything you’ve gained during that run will be lost.
• Battle System Combat unfolds as a turn-based card battle. Players draw cards at random from their deck and must adapt their strategy to the current situation. Each turn, you can take a single action: attack or defend using a card from your hand.

A post on X from DRAGAMI GAMES expresses the developer's deep gratitude for the response to Killer is Dead, which has now surpassed one million lifetime sales (thanks Gematsu). But in an extreme example of a long tail, this success spans more than a decade, as the stylized action game was released on consoles in 2013 and on Steam the following year. Here's word:

“Killer is Dead” has surpassed 1 million copies sold worldwide! We are deeply grateful for all your support—thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

• Blight Night on Steam (Windows). "The shadows whisper secrets you were never meant to hear. Step into Blight Night, a retro survival horror where the past won’t stay buried. Relive the chilling VHS-era terror of the 1980s, where every sound makes you question if you're truly alone."

• BOTSU on Steam (Windows). "ARE YOU READY TO BOTSU? It’s the ultimate robo-sport showdown! Compete online or split-screen in a series of ragdoll, physics-based battlesports to prove your mechanical mettle."

• Trash Goblin - 1.0 Launches 28th May 2025. Bonus points to Spilt Milk Studios for revealing the date up front.

• Asus ROG Ally 2 leaks with AMD Z2 Extreme CPU and 64GB RAM — black variant features a dedicated Xbox button - Tom's Hardware.

• Well that didn't pan out: Former Rockstar boss said in 2018 that he was glad not to be releasing GTA 6 in the Trump era, but here we are with GTA 6 releasing in the Trump era - PC Gamer.

• Unity Reports First Quarter 2025 Financial Results.

• We Might Be About To Lose A Powerful Force In The World Of Video Game Preservation - Time Extension. Thanks Reddit.

• The new Diablo 4 Berserk crossover skins will cost you up to $150 - PCGamesN.

• ‘The Last of Us’ Director on Dina’s Bisexuality, Introducing Isaac and How the Show Has Inspired Her Adaptation of ‘The Sims’ - Variety.

• Assetto Corsa EVO - Version 0.2.
• Stardeus "Ship Combat" Major Update.
• Starfield Update 1.15.214 – May 6, 2025 [BETA].

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

• Black Myth: Wukong Multiplayer Mod V0.8.1 Released - DSOGaming.
• Need for Speed: Underground RTX Remix Path Tracing Mod V0.4.1 Released - DSOGaming.

• PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS Weekly Bans Notice (04/28~05/04).

• Mad Catz Announces New Community-Designed Arcade Controller.

• Minecraft ended virtual reality support today - Engadget.

• Welcome teamLFG to the PlayStation Studios family – PlayStation.Blog. Former Bungie developers rebound.

Official trailers.

• Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel - Update SVARTALHEIM DESCENT – Official Teaser Trailer.
• Tempest Rising - Accolades Trailer.
• Tour de France 2025 - Pre-Order Trailer.

• Elden Ring Nightreign Interview- reimagined game design anchored by in-depth combat – PlayStation.Blog.
• EVE Online: Frontier: Vanguard Fanfest 2025 Q&A with CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson - Wccftech.
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle's Jens Andersson on defining 'a MachineGames adventure' - GamesIndustry.biz.
• PLAYERUNKNOWN reveals how Prologue- Go Wayback! lays the groundwork for an Earth-size game - Epic Games Store.

• Fallout 76 - The Big Bloom begins.

• How 2017 Changed BioWare 1000 Ways - Mark Darrah on Games (video). Thanks PC Gamer.

• Grand Theft Auto 6 dropped a whopping 84 brand-new screenshots and illustrations, and here's every single one - PC Gamer.

• Next Level Savings promotion comes to PlayStation Store May 7 – PlayStation.Blog.

• Official Announcement Trailer - Mirren- Star Legends - Mobile Pre-registration Open.

• Disney+ Hits 126M Subs, Iger Optimistic About Outlook - Variety.
• Gmail to drop support for 'outdated' 3DES encryption in incoming SMTP connections - Neowin.

• Nvidia and MediaTek rumoured to announce new Windows on Arm laptop chips at Computex 2025 - PC Gamer.
• AMD posts highest Q1 result ever — Strong CPU sales, but GPUs and gaming trail behind - Tom's Hardware.
• Intel's XeSS Support Extends To Over 200 Games While XeSS 2 Is Now Officially Supported By 13 Games - Wccftech.
• One company's 20-year stranglehold on CPU coolers is finally ending - XDA. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Windows 11’s big Start menu revamp is real – Microsoft has shared a first look at the redesign, and I’m very glad to see it - TechRadar.
• Microsoft testing another Windows 11 Start menu Search change that users already hate - Neowin. Different strokes.
• World First: Neuralink Patient Makes YouTube Video With Brain Implant - ScienceAlert.

• Will AI fix legacy IT struggles or create new ones? - TechRadar. Why not both?
• AI taught to analyze Windows crash dumps, released to open source — 'like going from hunting with a stone spear to using a guided missile - Tom's Hardware. Spears are generally much better for hunting than guided missiles.
• What is Mistral AI? Everything to know about the OpenAI competitor - TechCrunch.
• ‘A Frankenstein of Love’- Family Uses AI to Bring Murder Victim Back to Life in Court - Xataka On.

• Microsoft's Dirty Secret- Your Old PC is Now Trash! - Dave's Garage (video).

• Senate Dems propose ban on presidents investing or endorsing crypto assets - The Verge.
• Genshin Impact Will Start Verifying Player Ages In US As "Required By Law" - GameSpot.

• Revenge of the Savage Planet review - Eurogamer.net. Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Graphics Card: ASRock Radeon RX 9070 Steel Legend OC Review - TechPowerUp.
• Monitor/Projector: LG 45GX950A Review- The Ultimate OLED Ultrawide- - TechSpot. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Mouse: SCYROX V6 Review - TechPowerUp.
• SSD: Patriot Viper PVP30 Portable SSD Review - ThinkComputers.org.

CNN reports on the impact of today's deadline that requires U.S. domestic air travelers to present REAL ID-compliant identification. I find it weird that this is surprising anyone, as the REAL ID act was passed in 2005 and the original deadline for new ID was 2008. But 20 years(!) after it was mandated, and 17 years after it was first supposed to take effect, this is still catching people off guard.

REAL Round-up
Thanks Ant, Neutronbeam, and Max.

Breakfast Link

• The 4-Word Sleep Trick That Stops 3 A.M. Overthinking - Psychology Today.

Stories

• Trump admin picks COVID critic to be top FDA vaccine regulator - Ars Technica.
• Why More CEOs Are Heading for the Exit - Wall Street Journal. The skies are filled with golden parachutes. Thanks Slashdot.

Science

• Vagus Nerve Stimulation Erases PTSD - Neuroscience News. What goes on in vagus stays in vagus.
• Neural Processing Gaps Explain Other-Race Face Blindness - Neuroscience News.
• A supercomputer figured out when all life on Earth will end - BGR.

Media

• Honest Trailers - Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Ni!
• Cheating Expert Answers Casino Cheating Questions - Tech Support - WIRED.