Category: Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Last week’s alleged Epic Games hack was a scam, so-called “ransomware” group Mogilevich have confessed, or at least, are reported to have confessed in a self-congratulary new statement. The group have not, it now seems, stolen a bunch of login data, WIP software and payment information from the creators of Fortnite; they were only pretending to have done so with a view to duping other hackers into buying their tools.

Or at least, that’s what they’re said to be saying now. I haven’t tracked down the original source for Mogilevich’s latest statement, and in any case, anything you read from a self-described “professional fraudster” should probably be treated with caution. Still, it lines up with Epic’s own comments last week that there was no real sign that a hack had taken place.

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New week, new videogames, new newsblog. It’s another relatively quiet week for big name PC releases – no mega-sequels or adaptations, unless you’re seriously into the Moomins – but if 2024 has taught me anything it’s that a breakout hit can come from anywhere, and I will accordingly be watching this week’s new games with deep suspicion and barely constrained panic.

Here are the ones that seem most promising, at the time of writing: Warsaw-set magician RPG The Thaumaturge (4th March); spacey cube-obsessed factory sim Sixty Four (4th March); all-terrain open-worlder Expeditions: A MudRunner Game (5th March); co-op-skewed laboratory gorefest The Outlast Trials (5th March); circus horror Reveil (6th March); Sonic-maniac platformer Berserk Boy (6th March); Shadow of the Octopus ’em up Chasing The Unseen (7th March); storybook puzzler Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley (7th March); XCOM-meets-Baldur’s-Gatea-like Zoria: Age of Shattering (7th March).

As ever, this list is sponsored by the Maw, that convoluted and churning force of cosmic greed, which we strive ever to keep stuffed full of videogame news, lest it guzzle down what we are pleased to call our reality. It’s an incomplete, working list of recommendations – if we’ve missed something you’re looking forward to, it’s absolutely because we despise it, and are secretly out to punish you for ever liking it. I mean, it’s because I ran out of time. Feel free to suggest games for coverage in the comments along with any breaking news we should pounce on. Have a good week!

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Vampire Survivors received yet another update this past week. The Space-54 update adds two new characters, four new weapons, a new relic, and a new bonus stage. It also introduces cross-save support between Steam and Android to the Steam public beta branch.

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Starfield‘s next update will arrive in beta on March 6th, bringing another suite of quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes. Top of the list of tweaks is the ability to change player character and compansion facial expressions during photo mode, like running your family snaps through FaceApp to create the illusion everyone had fun on their holiday to the Bonneville salt flats.

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In an unexpected twist, a large amount of my time is now spent playing Fall Guys, the rubberised, free-to-play competitive bean racing game. I am therefore well equipped to tell you about its Survival Update, released this week, which adds new levels, new powerups and makes it possible to create survival rounds via the in-game level editor.

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Space Crew is superficially similar to FTL: you manage a crew in space as you deal with peril, put out fires and fight off aliens. It’s set apart by between-mission management, during which you get the steady dopamine drip of ship, crew and equipment upgrades and customisation.

It’s free to keep from Steam for the next two weeks.

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It’s looking increasingly likely that Gearbox Entertainment is going to be sold by Embracer. In a town hall with staff earlier this week, CEO and co-founder Randy Pitchford reportedly told staff that a decision had been made regarding the studio’s future, with more details to be shared in March.

Embracer bought Gearbox for $1.3 billion (around £1.02 billion) in 2021, but it was reported that they were looking to sell last year as part of ongoing layoffs, closures and divestments.

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I come to you with an important question today, readers. Has there ever been an actually good sewer level in a video game before? I propose to you that there has not. Sewer levels are the worst. They have always been the worst, and will always be the worst. There is no redeeming feature that can make sewer levels good, fun or enjoyable, and I come to you today saying they must stop. No more sewer levels, developers. Please. I beg you. Especially you, Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster. You’re the chief offender in this whole mess, and both my nostrils and my sanity simply cannot take it anymore.

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When Ori And The Blind Forest developers Moon Studios announced that their next game would be a top-down, online action RPG, my initial reaction was, ‘Heck yes, sign me the hell up for this Souls-y, Diablo-y hack and slash.’ Having now played the opening 90 minutes of the game ahead of tonight’s Wicked Inside showcase, that initial excitement has settled into more of a ‘Hoo boy, this thing is hard as nails. Folks who like Elden Ring and Dark Souls are going to go absolutely bananas for it.’ It’s definitely verging on the edge of being just a teensy bit too punishing for my personal taste, but even though my arse got thoroughly whomped time and time again during this initial prologue section, there’s still something about No Rest For The Wicked that’s left me quietly captivated.

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It’s a tale as old as time: when a great, popular game rises to the top of the Steam charts, scammers and chancers will do everything in their power to steal some of that glory for themselves. The latest victim is Helldivers 2, with scammers putting up two separate fake pages for it on Steam over the last 24 hours. Each page listed Arrowhead as the developer, and PlayStation as the publisher, along with big discounts of 50-75% off to tempt players into buying the cheap version instead of the real one.

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