The Escapist

ENJOY Gaming has launched Diamond Slam: Xtra Power, an enhanced sequel to one of the iGaming content developer’s most successful recent slot releases. Building on the original Diamond Slam, the new title introduces a fifth jackpot tier alongside two additional gameplay mechanics. It retains the familiar 3×3 reel format and five fixed paylines, combining traditional fruit machine-inspired presentation with a jackpot-focused bonus system. The returning Diamond Slam mechanic sees players

Almost 18 years after Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad returned to battle the Locust Horde on Xbox 360, Gears of War 2 has finally made its way to PC – although Microsoft and The Coalition have nothingnothing to do with it. An unofficial fan-made PC version called Gears of War 2: Hollow has been released by developer Helios. The community build reportedly includes the game’s complete single-player campaign, cooperative play through Steam and all of the original multiplayer and DLC maps.

Vanguard Exiles, the strategic auto-battler created in collaboration with Magic: The Gathering designer Richard Garfield, will leave Early Access and launch its full 1.0 version on Steam on February 4, 2027. Developed by independent Australian studio The Tea Division, Vanguard Exiles first appeared as a public demo in August 2024 before entering Steam Early Access in March 2025. By the time the full release arrives, the game will have spent almost two years being expanded and refined with fee

Pragmatic Play has expanded one of its best-known slot franchises with the launch of The Dog House Megaways 1000, introducing multipliers of up to 1,000x and a maximum win of 25,000x the player’s stake. Played across a 6×7 grid, the latest entry in The Dog House series offers up to 117,649 ways to win. Multiplier wilds can appear during both the base game and bonus rounds, carrying values that can climb as high as 1,000x. When multiple multiplier wilds contribute to the same winning c

Christopher Green, a Valve software engineer with 45 years of experience, is retiring. He posted that it is technically his second retirement, having returned to work at Valve between 2023 and 2026 for an undisclosed project. To mark the occasion, he held an AMA on the Valve subreddit covering engineering, game development, Valve culture and more. Yet the question that has caught the most attention from the Half-Life community, as it is a brief acknowledgement of something called HLX. One use

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to be whisked to gamescom Latam in Sao Paulo to see first hand the talent on show in the Brazilian megacity, Like many people I think that people don’t even realise there is a thriving Brazilian indie scene, although, judging by the number of big publishers sharking around for games to snap up, it might not be long before its secret reputation vanished for ever. Gamescom Latam was vibrant, well organised, and dare I say it, probably more interesting

Just when you thought changing your controller, monitor, headset, chair, lighting and entire personality was enough to improve at Street Fighter 6 and all that button-mashing needs to stop, somebody has decided your gaming room might also need to smell more competitive and a bit less, er you. Japanese fragrance company CODE Meee has partnered with Capcom to launch three official Street Fighter 6 room fragrances inspired by Ingrid, Juri and Ed. Rather than simply attempting to recreate what ea

Imagine you are Thomas Tuchel – okay, maybe not. Too soon. Imagine you are a successful Football Manager. You have a successful career and have taken Barnsley to the Champions League Final. Twice. You next gig? The Spain job. Many of us have had virtual careers that would make Pep Guardiola jealous. We never did see if Pep could do it on a cold Tuesday night at Notts County, you did. For 40 seasons. Okay, so managing in Football Manager isn’t real life (how dare you) but I, l

Blueprint Gaming has expanded its portfolio with the release of Wolf Fury Fire Blitz, a new wilderness-themed slot featuring two bonus pathways, an evolving Fire Blitz mechanic and a multi-level Power Play option. The game is set against a rugged forest backdrop, with the Fire Blitz logo positioned above the reels acting as a central part of the experience. During both the base game and Power Play modes, every Cash and Wolf symbol that lands helps fill the meter. Each increase to the meter

A new ‘friendslop’ game called Dear Passengers is doing the rounds at the moment. Revealed on July 14th, it quickly blew up, gaining social media traction. The game has already racked up around 2,000 wishlists on Steam according to SteamDB as result of its virality. Dear Passengers also appears in Steam’s popular search suggestions, a strong signal for a game that isn’t even out yet. What is Dear Passengers? The game comes from indie developer and publisher FLEXUS. You and your

I feel a bit like somebody has spiked my coffee this morning. There is a chap in the house painting the hallway and the fumes may be beginning to affect me, but now I am writing about a sushi racing game. My family don’t think I have a proper job you know. So, just when I thought video games had exhausted every possible variation on the racing genre, along comes Wabisabi SushiDerby to prove that nobody had yet considered putting raw fish on the starting grid. Developed by ITAMAE STUD

The World Cup has reached the semi-final stage, and somehow the official FIFA mobile game has decided now is the perfect moment to sell me Shrek. FIFA Heroes – the game that the marketing speak refers to as the “football game for mobile-first football fans” has put me in a bad mood already this morning. Look, I get I am probably not the target audience for this nonsense, but the fact it is Shrek’s 25th anniversary literally anything to do with the World Cup and the

Arc Raiders is facing a growing wave of community frustration, with Steam review sentiment turning negative through June. The game’s subreddit is increasingly split between players enjoying the extraction shooter and those openly questioning its long-term health. It seems like the game is at something of a tipping point, with many beginning to quit following the Fourth Expedition announcement last week, while others plod along happily. Which, for the record, is arguably a good thing for

Just when you thought buying gaming hardware had already become a financially ruinous hobby, Sony has started talking about the PlayStation 6 in a way that makes one thing feel increasingly obvious: the next generation is not going to be cheap. Actually, it was never going to be cheap, but it’s now probably going to be positively expensive. In fairness, Sony has not announced the PS6 price. It has not announced the PS6 release date. It has not even officially called it the PS6 in th

Razer has unveiled the Kitsune Ryu Edition, a limited-edition leverless fight stick built around Ryu from Street Fighter 6. Pre-orders are live now at Razer.com and RazerStores, with shipping expected around July 10th, priced at $319.99. What is the Razer Kitsune? The Kitsune Ryu Edition is a cosmetic and thematic take on Razer’s existing Kitsune all-button arcade controller. There’s vibrant red accents and Ryu-themed artwork printed around the edges of the pad. Outside of that,

Palworld is about to make its biggest move yet, and the timing is probably no massive coincidence. Pocketpair’s monster-taming survival game will leave Early Access and launch version 1.0 on July 10, bringing a major free update to players who already own the game. That puts Palworld’s full release just a few weeks ahead of Pokémon Pokopia’s first paid DLC drop in August, setting up another round of inevitable comparisons and head-butting between the two creature-collecting worlds.

Barony is an indie rogue-lite game based on DnD-style classes, coupled with its own custom-made ones. Players descend into dungeons and advance level by level to get better gear and builds before their run comes to an end. While the game has been on Steam for 11 years, it has hit a major milestone, officially selling 1 million copies as the Steam Summer Sale began. The game is currently listed at £1.87 in the UK, which is a whopping 90% off discount, with its four-pack costing just £6.54 t

Creative Assembly has invited the Total War community to directly vote on which playable factions make it into Total War: Medieval III at launch. Players can fill in a survey, giving them four votes each to allocate across a shortlist of 23 additional factions. The studio has published a blog from game directors Leif and Pawel explaining their approach, alongside a survey that will directly influence which factions receive priority during pre-production. Confirmed Factions in Medieval III:

Battlefield Studios has published its first Battlefield Combat deep dive ahead of Update 1.3.3.0. The update focuses a lot on the core gameplay of gunplay, affecting recoil changes, body hit damage multipliers and sniper sweet spots. The update is scheduled to arrive on June 30th with the latest Season 3 patch. Battlefield 6 gets some interesting recoil control and limb damage adjustments Recoil has been made more consistent and predictable across dozens of automatic primary weapons. The i

Relax Gaming has released Midnight Marauder ClusterBreaker, a heist-themed online slot built around cascading symbol wins, feature progression and bonus unlocks. The game is set inside a stately home, where Mr Midnight and the next generation of Midnight Marauders attempt a new raid. According to the supplier, the slot combines a modern heist setting with mechanics designed around repeated wins and progressive feature access. Cascading wins and feature progression At the center of the r