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After Clair Obscur Expedition 33, Sandfall Interactive is "going to go a bit crazy" with its next game: "We want to let ourselves dream again and be creative"

We won't see a new game from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 studio Sandfall Interactive for a few years, it seems, but the studio's leaders are confident it will be something "a bit crazy." Speaking with Automaton , Sandfall CEO Guillaume Broche reexamines the studio's plans for its next game – only its second release after the breakout success of Expedition 33, which was largely made by a team of junior staff. "It's too early to say anything precise, but we had a lot of fun creating Expedition 33, and it's a game that we all love internally, so we want to find this flame, this passion again for the next project," Broche says. "Expedition 33 was quite a long project too. Especially for me, it was six years. For Tom it was five and a half, and for most of the other members it was between four and five years. That's also why we want to let ourselves dream again and be creative again. We're going to go a bit crazy." Don't interpret that craziness as a massively inflated scope, however. Broche affirms that Sandfall wants to stay small. Currently, the studio has around 26 people, which he calls "more than enough" for pre-production on the next game. If they cracked open the Expedition 33 war chest and hired a ton of people to make a gigantic game, Broche reckons they'd lose part of the team's charm. "If we know we can't do everything, we have to focus on what matters, and I think that philosophy is what made Expedition 33 what it is," he says. "It feels very focused, everything has a purpose, and everything is made for a reason. It doesn’t feel like something too big for its own good." Earlier this year, Broche commented on the second album syndrome facing whatever game follows Expedition 33. Unbothered by sales comparisons or critical expectations, he said "we're just going to do what we love again" as "we didn't make the first game to please anyone" and that worked out pretty alright. Sandfall staff have said as much since the end of the GOTY season that saw Expedition 33 showered in trophies. COO and production director François Meurisse likewise said the team's next game will just focus on "what we think is cool," not what's expected to perform or, as writer Jennifer Svedberg-Yen put it, "please a lot of people." Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads call PlayStation killing discs a "sad decision" after buying boxed copies of their own RPG – "For us, physical was something special." [/url]

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12 minutes ago•Steam Sale•

Call of Duty: Black Ops Fans Can't Agree on Which Map to Play

Call of Duty: Black Ops fans are growing frustrated by players who refuse to vote for different maps. The recent ports of Call of Duty: Black Ops have been a strong source of nostalgia for many, but some are irritated by how it has created stubbornness among players when it comes to voting for maps. In the original Black Ops games, players can choose which map they want to play on in the next match. There are always two options, and then a third option lets you pick a random map. Players have noticed that, despite the fact there are over two dozen maps in each game, they end up playing on the same small handful of maps every time. Black Ops 1 and 2 have iconic maps like Nuketown, Firing Range, Hijacked, and Raid, and because they're so iconic, it's what a lot of people want to play. Over on Reddit , players have pointed out that some fans aren't voting for less popular maps and are even outright leaving matches in droves if they aren't satisfied with the result. "I don't mind playing Nuketown once in a while, but it seems like 70% of the lobbies will vote random, and if it's not Nuketown, 1/3rd if the lobby backs out," said one fan . "If Nuketown is an option, then there [are] 8 votes for it instantly." "Don’t get me wrong, Hijacked, Nuketown, and Raid are goated maps, but so are Uplink, Grind, Takeoff, Mirage, Turbine, Downhill, Slums, Meltdown, Carrier, and Studio, etc. Honestly, Black Ops 2 doesn’t have a bad map; even Magma, Frost, and Pod are better than so many of the new maps out today," said another . "Sometimes I’m just down to play on a map I don't like that much just for variety's sake, so I’m hella annoyed by this too despite loving all the maps everyone always picks, but not when it’s the only maps I’ve been playing on for the last 5 hours straight." Some even noted that Black Ops 2 specifically has a playlist for just Hijacked and Nuketown if that's all people want to play, even suggesting that Nuketown should be removed from standard map rotations. "Map voting is a curse in this game. On BO7, you'll RARELY play anything other than Nuketown, Hijacked, Raid, because everyone needs to spawn trap and get 100 kills, or the map is garbage," stated an annoyed player . "I honestly miss MW2019 when there was no map voting; I actually got to play ALL the maps. Every year a bunch of people are on here complaining that there's only 10 - 12 maps at launch, and then they still refuse to play on any of them except for 3. It's mindboggling." "Takeoff and Uplink are the most skipped maps I’ve seen, and I believe it’s because people simply don’t know what they are," said a frustrated player . "And even more unfortunate due to rage bait culture asking people to vote for either becomes a massive vote for classified and ends up being Drone or Aftermath which in turn kills the lobby." One fan made a respectable case for playing nothing but the hits, however. "I totally get it, but as someone who only plays for a bit after work every now and then, it’s fun just hopping in a few Nuketown games and playing super engaging games for a bit with the little time I have," argued a fan . "Also helps leveling up when you can get like 100 kills within a game or two, as opposed to maybe 3-4 of playing bigger maps." Ultimately, Call of Duty players are creautres of habit. They know what they like, and it's very hard for some of them to accept change or adapt to new things. As a result, it means the franchise and the players themselves can get stuck in repetitive cycles, as seen in cases like this one. Many of the maps people are complaining about here have been brought back in other Call of Duty games multiple times over the years and continue to be very popular with fans, for better or worse. In somewhat related news, Black Ops fans recently uncovered a cut Zombies mode from the original game. The mode is a tower defense version of the undead horde mode and would've been a very unique spin on the classic co-op offering. Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.

24 minutes ago•Steam Sale•

Get All of the Dungeon Crawler Carl Books for $21 With This Amazon Kindle Deal

Amazon is offering a deal on the Dungeon Crawler Carl Kindle editions that's hard to pass up.

27 minutes ago•IGN•Jacob Kienlen•

Dexter: Resurrection Season 2 First Look Teases Return of Quinn, New Kills, and More

The first official look at Dexter: Resurrection Season 2 has been released, and it seems like Dex will be reckoning with his past once again.

29 minutes ago•IGN•Cade Onder•

20 years later, Bully is still "unlike any other" open-world game, says Rockstar co-founder and GTA veteran Dan Houser

Video games can transport you across kingdoms and dimensions, so developer Rockstar was bold in deciding to set its 2006 open-world drama Bully in a New England boarding school. 20 years later, there still isn't anything quite like it. Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser tells IGN during a San Diego Comic-Con interview, "The team did an amazing job bringing [Bully] together, and it's a game that's unlike any other games out there." "You know," Houser added, "I think people are always looking for games that play like normal games, but with different tone and different setting. And Bully really found that." The teen angst simulator puts faith in its moody protagonist Jimmy, whose normal -ness sets him apart from other AAA game heroes. As him, you try winning over each of Bullworth Academy's stereotypical cliques – Jocks, Nerds, Greasers – while dodging adults, drinking soda, and Rated T smooching the NPC of your choice. It's a classroom daydream where you outrun the hall monitor and become a John Hughes hero. Rockstar co-founder and Bully writer Dan Houser looks back on what made Bully such a classic. In partnership with Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2, Alienware, BRISK x Splatoon Raiders #sdcc pic.twitter.com/RkaZtjsFfw July 28, 2026 Naturally, players got happily lost in it. Our contemporaneous GamesRadar+ review calls it a "cavalcade of favors, beatdowns, vandalism, minor theft, humiliation, blackmail, make-outs and a whole lot of sticking it to The Man." Basically, it's awesome. Though, Bully was controversial ahead of its release as parents panicked about the name "Bully" (our review references this by calling Bully either "the ruin of Western civilization or a Catcher in the Rye for the videogame generation"). Rockstar wasn't worried about what was ultimately an anti-bullying statement as Houser pulled freely from his childhood memories while working on the game's story . That grubby authenticity ultimately helped make Bully a popular, empathetic open-world game people could really see themselves in, and it prevented Bully from being another great game overshadowed by moral panic – which is what happened to the other 2006, boarding school nightmare Rule of Rose. "I think people love open-world games anyway – particularly, ones that are made with integrity," Houser tells IGN about Bully. "We've got amazing art direction from [former Rockstar lead] Steven Olds, you've got incredible music, you've got some really memorable characters, and it's a unique setting. It came together really well." Find out where Bully falls on our ranked list of the 25 best Rockstar games of all time. [/url]

32 minutes ago•Steam Sale•

Final Fantasy XIV Patch 7.55 is now available, Square Enix reveals patch notes and known issues for Switch 2

Patch 7.55 for FFXIV brings in new adventures in the Occult Crescent: North Horn, the conclusion of the Phantom Weapons series, Inconceivably Further Hildibrand Adventures, and more.

39 minutes ago•Steam Sale•

Two years on from taking the role, Wizards of the Coast's president is stepping down

Wizards of the Coast president John Hight is stepping down from the role. As reported by GamesIndustry.biz , a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing from July 27th revealed that Hight will be moving on from the role come September 1st. This doesn't mean he's leaving the company completely, as he'll be shifting into an advisor role. The change in role comes roughly two years after Hight took it in August 2024, and after WOTC owner Hasbro took a $56 million impairment charge last week . Read more

51 minutes ago•Rockpapershotgun•Oisin Kuhnke•

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads call PlayStation killing discs a "sad decision" after buying boxed copies of their own RPG – "For us, physical was something special"

The industry is still reeling from Sony 's announcement that it's ending physical disc production for PlayStation consoles in 2028 . There's been a lot of pushback, and now the developers behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 have added their two cents, lamenting the choice as a reductive one for the medium. "Personally, I find it super sad because I really like video game stores," Guillaume Broche, creative director on Clair Obscur, tells Automaton . "And even if nowadays, I play mainly on PC myself, we have a lot of people on the team who play on PS5 and love to collect physical discs. I think it's part of the beauty of art too – that it's something tangible." He concedes that in terms of business, he "can understand why it may make sense," but "it's a sad decision" for the overall creativity of the industry. Tom Guillermin, co–founder and CTO of studio Sandfall Interactive, revealed actually doing a physical run for Clair Obscur was something the team had to push for. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/2VaLOc1FpSo "A physical release adds more constraints because you have to account for the production time of the physical items, and you also earn less money per copy," he explains. "But for us, physical was something special. We also felt that the game could be special to players." Doing a physical run is an increasingly large labor of love. The ubiquity of digital storefronts is pushing game discs into being a more niche interest similar to vinyl , except people aren't really buying game discs . Still, discs are important because they're timeless and collectible, and it feels better to have a game you love in your own two hands. I've bought several games I love more than once because I got the physical version after playing the digital one. Nobody can turn the servers off on the disc I own, and I like having it on display. "So even though it made things harder and meant less money per unit, it was important for us to provide players who want to have the physical game in their hands with an option," Guillermin says. "Because that's what we value as players too." He's not kidding on that last part, because once Clair Obscur was on actual store shelves, Sandfall literally went out and bought it. "After launch, we went to a video game store to buy our own game. Just as a gesture," Broche recalls. "Another strong memory I have is when someone from Japan sent me a picture [of our game] from a video game store, in Akihabara I think, in Japanese writing and all," he remembers. "I felt like a kid when I saw it. I was like 'Yeah, it's real!' It starts feeling real when you see it in stores." Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 devs were told that "no one" would like one of the RPG's best systems before it launched, lead says: "We didn't care" [/url]

52 minutes ago•Steam Sale•

After playing Halo: Campaign Evolved's prologue, I don't want another Halo remake – it's time for a new game

Halo's greatest strength is simplicity. Super-soldier protagonist Master Chief is an immovable object, the Covenant's alien invaders an unstoppable force, and hitting them together like action figures has created 25 years of entertaining FPS hijinks. Returning to the first game via Halo: Campaign Evolved, little has changed – even when it has. The remake features a prologue from developer Halo Studios, with three all-new missions that see Chief tear through a Covenant ship before the events of the original game. The prologue is Halo Studios' first original creation since the studio's rebrand from 343 Industries in 2024, which means we're effectively getting a glimpse into the series' future while fresher players are given the perfect introduction to Master Chief and Halo's setting. Shipping it (Image credit: Xbox Game Studios) Verdict (Image credit: Microsoft) Halo: Campaign Evolved review : "An FPS in its purest form, but also a wasted opportunity for Halo Studios to put its own spin on a classic" Aboard the Covenant's vessel, you're thrown straight into the carnage. It's an excellent setting for an FPS, particularly one of Halo's straightforwardness. Squeezed into the ship are cramped service corridors, grand halls, and even a domed Earth-like desert biome – all unmistakably alien, but designed with perfunctory violence. Ornate balconies can be a vantage point for Jackal snipers or a haven for Chief to blast Brutes from a distance, and every door is a potential entry-point for more aliens – and just about the only place you can create a chokepoint, if you're quick enough to frag a gaggle of Grunts before they can disperse. Even in a linear shooting gallery like this, I always feel moments away from being overrun on all sides. The developer also recognizes the importance of Master Chief's momentum, which is something I clocked while playing the original game's remade levels . Standing still is a surefire way of being pelted with grenades, leaving you to push forward as your only option – if only to pluck a plasma rifle from a dead brute, as limited ammo makes every weapon a disposable tool. I'm pinballed from gun to gun, drawn further out of position until I look back and realize I've completed most of the prologue this way. The original Halo campaigns were defined by their breathlessness, and it's bracing to see Halo Studios lean into the same dynamic so effectively. As someone who has lapsed from the series since the Xbox 360 days, the new prologue also serves as a nice way into Halo at its simplest. A Star Wars-style crawl establishes humanity's war against the Covenant, while Master Chief is endearingly portrayed as both stoic hero and tongue-in-cheek action film caricature. "Chief – you ever get tired of being the strong, almost-silent type?", he's asked during a lull between shootouts. Long pause. "No." (Image credit: Xbox Game Studios) By remaking the first Halo after a major development overhaul , Halo Studios seems to be looking back to find its way forward. Its originality in the prologue shows the developer certainly has the shooter chops to carry Halo forward – five minutes with the CE Magnum is enough to confirm that – but the bigger question is how this action will be framed going forward. Does the prologue's claustrophobic structure mean we'll see more traditional shooter levels in future Halo games, or will they build upon Halo Infinite's open-world experimentation? Whatever the answer, I just hope the next game from Halo Studios is wholly original. After all: what's Halo if not moving forward? Not sure where to start? Here's how to play the Halo games in order [/url]

1 hour ago•Steam Sale•

Resident Evil beats Final Fantasy to become the best-selling Japanese game series not published by Nintendo, with Resident Evil 2 Remake now leading the pack

Resident Evil 2 is now the series' best-selling game, while a new sales milestone sees the Capcom horror series pass Final Fantasy. In Capcom's latest earnings report , the company announced that Resident Evil 2 – that being the 2019 remake, not the 1998 original with the same name – has sold an extra 1.42 million copies since the last report, sending the game to lifetime sales of 19.75 million copies. And despite Capcom's decision to split every different version of a game into different parts of its platinum titles page making it seem like this happened long ago, Resident Evil 5 has finally been dethroned (via DuskGolem ). Between the original Xbox 360 and PS3 game, its Gold Edition, the PS4 and Xbox One re-release, and Switch editions of Capcom's divisive horror title, Resident Evil 5 had sold 19.01 million copies the last time Capcom detailed its sales in an earnings report earlier this year . However, Resident Evil 2's spot at the top is definitely under threat as Resident Evil 4 remake is already at 16.04 Million copies sold despite 2's four-year headstart. Not to mention Resident Evil 4 sold 2.43 million copies in the last three months, which is over 1 million more than 2 sold. Resident Evil Requiem is also killing it as it sold a further 1.14 million in the last three months, and with momentum like that and big sales down the line, it also has a chance to make it to the top. Capcom also confirmed that the Resident Evil series as a whole has sold 213 million copies since it debuted 30 years ago. That means it has surpassed Final Fantasy, which Square Enix claimed had sold 212 million as of last month. This means that Resident Evil is the ninth best-selling game franchise of all-time, and the biggest-selling Japanese game series not published by Nintendo, and with sales like Mario and Pokemon have, I'm afraid that's probably the closest it will get. "Resident not-Evil" is Resident Evil 2 director's joke cozy life sim pitch starring a retired Leon Kennedy fishing, baking, and "inviting his old friends over for barbecues" [/url]

1 hour ago•Steam Sale•

The Grade A Refurb Nintendo Switch 2 Mario Kart World Console Bundle Just Dropped to $419 at Woot

New $20 price drop on top of last week's already excellent deal.

1 hour ago•IGN•Eric Song•

The 4K-Ready MSI Codex Z2 GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming PC Drops to $1,699 After a $600 Discount

Most RTX 5070 Ti equipped PCs sell for over $2000 and the GPU alone runs for $950-$1000.

1 hour ago•IGN•Eric Song•

Save 40% Off the New 2026 Hisense U6 4K Fire TV With Hi-QLED Mini-LED Technology

One of the best budget TVs of 2026 with premium features for 4K HDR movies and PS5 gaming.

1 hour ago•IGN•Eric Song•

Best Buy Has Excellent Condition Asus ROG Xbox Ally Handheld Gaming PCs for Less Than $500

As this point we'd recommend getting an ROG Xbox Ally over a Steam Deck.

1 hour ago•IGN•Eric Song•

The Witcher 3 director says solely aiming for high sales is a great way to make a game "fail," and he wants to measure his new RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker by the "opinions of fans"

Making a massive RPG like The Blood of Dawnwalker requires striking a balance between understanding that such projects require time and investment, and not letting financial targets distract from the creative vision. In fact, as far the game's director is concerned, worrying about money is a surefire way for a release to flounder. In an interview with Radio Times (below), Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, the director of The Blood of Dawnwalker and co-founder of studio Rebel Wolves (and a CD Projekt Red veteran who directed The Witcher 3), explains his perspective on sales targets. "We don't want to measure our games in millions of sales," he says. "I mean, you need to have money, of course, to create the next part," he continues. "But we want to create those challenges in front of us to fulfil our artistic and creative needs." https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/snbobgMJs_w The real goal is to garner a positive reception from the game's fanbase. "I would prefer to measure the game in the opinions of fans," Tomaskiewicz adds, "and the energy when they like the game. If possible, maybe some awards for us, which will be achievements for us as artists." Strong aspirations, but good principles upon which to build a game. The Blood of Dawnwalker's an ambitious debut; a horror RPG set in the 14th century where a half-human, half-vampire has 30 days to save his family. It's high-concept, and stands out as a result. In Tomaskiewicz's mind, "the sales are secondary," because he has a core belief that, "if the game is good there will be the sales," and if you're worried about shifting copies from the jump, your project is doomed. "If you are thinking about sales as you create the game, when you try to make the game to match the sales, it will fail at the start," he says, definitively. Given that Tomaskiewicz directed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt , he's got on the ground experience shipping a large game while maintaining the team's creative integrity. Geralt's last big adventure is testament to the notion that people gravitate to good games if the execution is there. We have just over a month to wait before we find out if The Blood of Dawnwalker will be another hit. Regardless, the real reward will be seeing who actually connects with the ideas Rebel Wolves is putting out there. Former Witcher 3 devs "can't" and "don't want to challenge" bigger games and companies with new RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker, and staying smaller let them "focus on the player's agency." [/url]

1 hour ago•Steam Sale•

Wizards of the Coast president is stepping down after just 2 years on the job

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1 hour ago•PC Gamer•Andy Chalk•

These new Pokémon TCG Eevee statues are surely set to do stonks

China's new wave of Pokémon statues has been fully announced, and as teased earlier this year, these ones are based on TCG Eeveelution cards. Specifically, they're physical, 3D representations of Eeveelution artwork from the 151 and Prismatic Evolutions sets. Read the full story on Wargamer: These new Pokémon TCG Eevee statues are surely set to do stonks

1 hour ago•Steam Sale•

7 Free Steam Games That You'll Struggle To Put Down

There are so many incredible free games on Steam , that choosing any from among them to actually play is a surprisingly challenging task. Some are thought-provoking, narrative-driven experiences that'll take you a weekend to complete, while others are hundreds, if not thousands, of hour-long extravaganzas that'll have you hooked from the moment you hit play. While the former is absolutely worthwhile, sometimes you just want that never-ending video game to absorb all of your free time, and that's what the latter excels at.

1 hour ago•Steam Sale•

Call of Duty: Black Ops Fans Can't Agree on Which Map to Play

Call of Duty: Black Ops fans are growing frustrated by players who refuse to vote for different maps.

1 hour ago•IGN•Cade Onder•

Mistfall Hunter looks like legally distinct Elden Ring but with a faster paced, extraction spin

On its surface, aesthetically Mistfall Hunter certainly looks like a game where if you were doomscrolling and briefly saw a gif of it in action, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's from Elden Ring . The game certainly apes FromSoftware's dark fantasy, selectively colourful vibe, but it is offering up something different under the hood at least, as rather than your dime a dozen soulslike , it's opted for the slightly trendier extraction approach. Read more

1 hour ago•Rockpapershotgun•Oisin Kuhnke•