LEGO 2K Goooal! could be announced soon

2K Games has been known to develop sports games other than EA Sports or even LEGO games as of late like LEGO 2K Drive. Rumors have been swirling about 2K Games making a FIFA game for quite some time, there might be a different type of game they’ll announce. According to Kurakasis on X (Twitter), LEGO 2K Goooal! could be announced in the very near future as it’s planned for release around EURO 2024. In case you are unfamiliar, EURO 2024 will be taking place starting June 14, 2024, until July 14, 2024. I just woke up and, well… that escalated quickly, lol. To keep it simple: I don't know if 2K is making a new FIFA game; it's an old rumour. I wanted to tell you that LEGO 2K Goooal! announcement is right around the corner, and it's planned to be released around EURO 2024. pic.twitter.com/KBmlUg2ySU — Kurakasis (@Kurakasis) February 12, 2024 Kurakasis also says that if 2K Games are actually working on a new FIFA game, it would be announced around the same time as the announcement or release of LEGO 2K Goooal. It had already been known this new LEGO soccer game would be coming through ratings and store listings found in the past. It was just when it will be made official with a release date and other details.
Turbo Golf Racing is coming to PlayStation 5 soon

Turbo Golf Racing has been available on PC via Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Microsoft Store and Hugecalf Studios announced it will be coming to PlayStation 5 soon. “In August 2022, Turbo Golf Racing launched into Early Access on Steam and Xbox Game Preview, attracting over one million players. Alongside the 1.0 release in Q2 2024, Turbo Golf Racing will be opening its doors to the PlayStation 5 audience, allowing even more racers to test their skills in this ultimate fusion of golf and racing.” Hugecalf Studios did not specify when Turbo Golf Racing would be coming to PlayStation 5, but we do know it will be this year. What is Turbo Golf Racing? Turbo Golf Racing is an action-packed fusion of racing and golf. Players traverse across a diverse range of courses, using their car to skilfully putt their ball into the finishing hole.
Microsoft will share updates on the Xbox business on February 15 via podcast

Over a week ago reports have spread online that Microsoft has a new vision for the Xbox platform where some exclusives will be seen on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5. Reports include games like Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, or even Indiana Jones And The Great Circle. Phil Spencer then addressed social media that they plan to share details on their vision for the future of Xbox in the next week. Today, Microsoft announced they will be sharing an update on the Xbox business through the Official Xbox Podcast featuring Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, and Matt Booty. This podcast episode will drop on February 15, 2024, at 3 PM ET / 12 PM PT on the official Xbox YouTube channel. Please join us for a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast. Hear from Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond and Matt Booty as they share updates on the Xbox business. pic.twitter.com/TxwWJVUbgx — Xbox (@Xbox) February 12, 2024 This is one of the first times that we have seen Microsoft address something this major through the Official Xbox Podcast. It will be interesting to see what information the leaders of Xbox will be able to share about the future of their platform.
Review: Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden

Developer – Don’t Nod Publisher – Focus Entertainment Platforms – PC (reviewed), Xbox Series S|X, PlayStation 5 Review copy given by publisher Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a new action role playing game from Don’t Nod, the studio behind Life is Strange and Vampyr. It is set in 1695 North America, where you play as Red, a Banisher who hunts ghosts and tries to revive his dead lover, Antea. The game combines third-person combat, choice-based narrative, and supernatural powers in a dark and atmospheric world. Seen as a spiritual successor to Vampyr, this game was meant to be released back in November 2023, but was delayed to February 2024. Don’t Nod’s newest project takes place in a fictional town known as New Eden, where two planes exist in the world: that of the living, and that of the departed. Our two main protagonists are banishers, special ghost hunters that can permanently exorcize restless spirits that are unable to leave the land of the living. During a specific mission to investigate and banish a ghost, Antea is unfortunately killed in action, leaving Red all alone to finish the job. However, she returns as a spirit of the dead and the pair continue their journey onward to banish more spirits and find a way to liberate Antea once and for all. The main appeal here is the story, which is dictated by your decisions and their consequences. This comes as no surprise coming from a narrative-driven studio such as Don’t Nod. You can choose to blame, banish, or ascend the souls of the living and the dead, affecting the fate of the characters and the environment. The game heavily explores the themes of love, death, and sacrifice, as you face the dilemma of honoring your oath or breaking it for Antea. There are a total of 5 distinct endings to achieve, all of which depend on the choices you make throughout the game. For example, choosing to sacrifice people will contribute to Antea’s resurrection whereas sparing them will lead to her ascent. A single playthrough takes between 15-20 hours, as you explore 5 distinct regions in rural America, including villages, forests, mountains, and churches. In terms of combat, you have access to Red’s musket and melee weapons, along with Antea’s supernatural abilities to fight against various creatures. As Red, you have a regular basic attack, a charged strong attack, along with a dodge and parry. You can also expend a charged meter to instantly banish undead ghouls. I found that enemies’ attacks track you to a questionable degree, so if you dodge too early, their attacks will still hit you. That being said, there’s a ton of difficulty options to choose from: story, easy, normal, hard, and very hard, all of which can be changed at any time. You can also switch to Antea during combat, which gives you a new suite of supernatural ghostly abilities that deal area of effect damage. Her attacks are limited though, as denoted by a blue bar, which then gets recharged by attacking with Red. Boss encounters are triggered when you perform scourge rituals and are usually a thrilling and multi-phased affair. The RPG progression elements here are quite standard, as you collect items from exploration and defeating enemies to upgrade equipment, unlock nodes in skill trees, and craft items. You can equip Red with an outfit, amulet, wristband, brooch, ring, melee weapon, ranged weapon, and potion. Gear is denoted in rarity by color, similar to what you would find in a looter game such as Diablo. Your attributes are basic, consisting of strength, vitality, willpower, and wisdom. On Antea’s side of things, you have a tree of spirit nodes that can be used to unlock more of her abilities, such as summoning vines to root an enemy in place. This skill tree is shared with Red, with his nodes consisting of passive upgrades such as restoring health when defeating an enemy or increasing parry damage. When you’re not busy going toe to toe with the undead, the game has you solving environmental puzzles and participating in detective-style investigations. Many new pathways and discoverable objects can be found by looking around your surroundings for clues in a semi-open world map. You’ll also gain new Metroidvania-esque abilities that allow you to reach previously inaccessible areas, revealing hidden rewards. Every mission or case can be boiled down to investigating objects and talking to townsfolk to make deductions before performing rituals to either ascend or banish spirits. Learning about a spirit’s background and history is pivotal in dictating what fate you choose for them in the end. One major element I wasn’t a fan of was that you can’t interact with any object when a person is speaking, and you don’t have the option to speed up the dialogue or skip it, meaning you have to sit through tons of slow talking before you can observe another clue or item. Graphically speaking, the game looks alright at best. I was perhaps expecting too much given the fact that this title is built using Unreal Engine 5 and only coming to current generation consoles. The animations aren’t the smoothest and scene transitions are sometimes rigid. For example, there was a conversation sequence that had Antea’s neck jut out unnaturally just to have it pop back into place after the scene ended. That being said, the art direction is stunning and perfectly captures the harshness of the North American wilderness. The sound design is just as immersive, featuring top-tier voice acting, haunting music, and excellent sound effects. The game runs at a solid 60 frames per second on an RTX 3080, with the option to cap it at 30 as well. Anti aliasing is available for TAA, AMD FSR, and NVidia DLSS. The game takes an impressive less than 4 seconds to load into from the main menu on PC. There’s a solid number of accessibility options too, including in depth tutorials, aim assist, auto relock, and the ability
Ubisoft’s VR Venture Won’t Face Further Investment After Disappointing Assassin’s Creed Nexus Results

One of the largest takeaways from the Assassin’s Creed franchise was the possibilities that the IP can go with it being one of Ubisoft’s largest IPs. Not only more games, but also the other possibilities of content for fans to ingest. When it came time that the publisher was pursuing virtual reality with the series, fans were ecstatic to say the least. However, the game did face some difficulties with the project on ice of sometime as the sibling Splinter Cell VR title fell through the cracks. But it wasn’t until this past November that Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR officially arrived to Meta Quest devices. Even more, reports correct about the game’s release in 2023 also notes internal efforts for a follow-up is also in the works as well prior to the game’s reveal. But, according to Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, the new venture did not meet expectations. While the latest entry in the series, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, met a glowing response from the market the same cannot be said for Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR. In fact, it underperformed Ubisoft’s expectations that the firm is withholding further investment on virtual reality until proper growth is presented. “We have been a bit disappointed by what we were able to achieve on VR with Assassin’s Creed. It did okay, and it continues to sell, but we thought it would sell more, so we are not increasing our investment on VR at the moment, because it needs to take off,” the statement transcribed by Video Game Chronicle reads. “We have been very impressed by what Apple came up with, and we think it’s fantastic hardware, but we continue to look at this VR business as something that we have to look at but not invest too much in, until it grows enough.” Elsewhere in the same earnings Q&A, Guillemot also speaks on Skull and Bones. He addresses the new title to be a “quadruple-A” title which offers a full package experience and warrants the game’s new $70 price tag that Ubisoft is fitting its releases moving forward. You can read the full report by heading here. Did you pick up Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR at all?
Ubisoft CEO Expresses Skull And Bones As A “Quadruple-A” Release, Warranting The $70 Price Tag

For Ubisoft, the firm has been eager to explore new IPs, at least for this situation, for nearly a decade. In February, the long-awaited and anticipated Skull and Bones officially launches. As of late, Ubisoft has been engaging those following the launch campaign with a new open beta live this past weekend. What’s more exciting is that it features cross-play and will carry over your progress in the open playtest to the full game. Additionally, Ubisoft is preparing to give Skull and Bones the live-service treatment. Alongside its other titles like Rainbow Six Siege & For Honor, Skull and Bones is the next title to add to this list. Already, the firm has shared some insight on the first couple of seasons underway for the coming release with plans to support Skull and Bones for the next couple of years. In a recent earnings call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot commented on the status of Skull and Bones. Although the co-founder does not speak on the matter about the longevity for the next live-service game, he does elaborate on the value of Skull and Bones. More specifically, he expresses the new title to be a ‘AAAA’ title as it offers a new definition to what big budget games stand for. “You will see that Skull and Bones is a fully-fledged game. It’s a very big game, and we feel that people will really see how vast and complete that game is. It’s a really full, triple… quadruple-A game, that will deliver in the long run,” Guillemot tells in the statement; transcribed by Video Game Chronicle. Guillemot’s comment also backs his push for $70 releases as the publisher withheld the price jump compared to other publishers. Elsewhere in a separate instance, Guillemot also acknowledges the expected releases for Assassin’s Creed ‘Codename Red’. The upcoming major release bringing the series to feudal Japan is said to expect a release by late March 2025. You can read the full report by heading here. What are your thoughts on Guillemot’s statement? Skull and Bones ships on February 16, 2024 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.