Shawn Layden, who held various executive roles at PlayStation before leaving in October 2019, told Bloomberg the cost of game development doubles with every platform. Budgets for PlayStation 4 games Layden spearheaded each hit $100m, and, Bloomberg reports, Layden predicts PS5 games will each cost $200m to make and prices will only increase from there. Big game companies will combat this exponential development cost by employing a “de-risk” strategy, Layden suggested, which in turn causes triple-A publishers to become “incentivised toward sequels”....

It’s the next game to arrive on the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion, following Majora’s Mask last month. It will be available from 11th March. Following the impressive Mode 7 graphics of the SNES original, F-Zero X added polygonal graphics, 30 character races, and blistering speed over winding, rollercoaster tracks at a smooth 60 fps. This release on Switch will include online multiplayer for four players - a first for the series....

Of course, it’s no coincidence that the new Red Panda outfit release today, on Valentine’s Day, but while it’s described as a Valentine’s “gift”, it’s not quite free love, as the cute costume will set you back 1000 kudos per piece. “This Valentine’s Day Fall Guys has fallen for the players with a heartfelt message and a special Valentine’s Day gift!” states the press release blurb. “From today through February 16th, passionate players can deck their jelly bean out in the world’s most adorable Red Panda costume....

The multiplayer-focused post-apocalyptic adventure has struggled with its stash limit ever since it launched back in November 2018. Players - particularly those focused on building bases - have long called for Bethesda to up the limit in order to make playing more efficient. It didn’t help that Bethesda gave Fallout 1st subscribers unlimited scrapbox space for crafting components. Today’s update increases the stash limit by 50 per cent to a maximum of 1200 pounds....

Fallout 76’s The Pitt expansion was annouced for a 2022 release last June, and its arrival date was narrowed down a little further, specifically to this “autumn”, as part of February’s 2022 roadmap. Last night’s Xbox showcase, though, saw it inching even closer to receiving a proper release date, with its new gameplay trailer heralding a September launch. The Pitt - inspired by the second add-on released for 2008’s much-loved Fallout 3 - will arrive as part of Fallout 76’s Season 10 update in September, and marks the first time players will be able to travel beyond the boundaries of Appalachia in the online game....

Twitter user MetroidMike64 spent seven years working on his Super World, which he has unofficially named Super Mario Bros. 5, and uploaded the finished product online yesterday. MetroidMike64 began creating levels in 2015 using Super Mario Maker on the Wii U, and had always intended for them to be part of a larger game. A tool to link all of his levels together didn’t exist in the original game, so when the World Maker mode was added to Super Mario Maker 2 in 2020, his “dream became a reality”....

The details come from YouTuber JorRaptor, who has a reliable history detailing Assassin’s Creed leaks. First up is a fairly self-explanatory tease for Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix. This is the upcoming Netflix anime adaptation of Far Cry 3’s memorable Blood Dragon spin-off. Set in an alternate universe neon-hued 90s, it stars protagonist Dolph Laserhawk, a cybernetically enhanced super soldier who escapes from the army for one last heist before sailing off into the sunset with his boyfriend Alex....

This means as many as 70 to 100 staff will be working on such titles, Zynga blochain boss Matt Wolf told Axios. Hiring is now ongoing, including for a position titled “tokenomics designer”. A project designed from the “ground-up” to be dedicated to NFTs will be launched “sooner than later”, Wolf continued. Game teams will be able to opt out of building NFT games, Wolf said, and existing Zynga franchises will be kept separate....

The traditional release time and day of the week continues, with the cards featured in the latest Team of the Week officially available in packs from Wednesday, 11th March at 6pm UK time, where they’ll be around for seven days before the next TOTW comes into play. The only difference is this week a bit of a technical issue led to the announcement being several hours late! FIFA 20 TOTW 26: starting 11...

The move to crossplay has been a long time coming for EA’s footy brand, and comes after numerous other big franchises have also taken the plunge. Word that this year’s FIFA instalment will support crossplay comes from Battlefield leaker Tom Henderson (via XFire). Men’s and Women’s World Cups will also be included, it was reported. EA is yet to confirm these details itself, but we have contacted the company for comment....

The headline of course is the squad and attributes update, which shifts any players that might have made the switch since the game launched in November 2020 to their new clubs, plus new staff, too. That means exciting youngster Amad Diallo is now in the Manchester United squad, for instance, after his January arival from Atalanta, and latest guy-to-be-sacked-in-18-months Tomas Tuchel now in charge at Chelsea, replacing “Super” Frank Lampard....

NBA 2K21 for console and on Android via xCloud also becomes available tomorrow, while Madden NFL 21 is available now via EA Play (which is included on console if you are an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber). EA Play also gets Star Wars Squadrons at some point this month - that’s Motive Studios’ spaceship dogfighting game which launched in October last year. Emma wrote that it was a “scrappy, compelling starfighter that excels in VR” in Eurogamer’s Star Wars Squadrons review....

I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist. The latest Forspoken trailer was really asking for it though. Forspoken last made the headlines when its release date was pushed back from 11th October this year to 24th January 2023. It’s back again, though this time for a more light-hearted reason. A trailer posted on Forspoken’s Twitter account this week has been raising eyebrows. It’s meant to tell us more about the setting of the game and lead character Frey Holland....

Durr Burger is a landmark location, so you’ll need to know exactly where this restaurant is on the map to complete this challenge. Completing this challenge will reward you with a good amount of XP, which will help you unlock more Battle Pass skins and rewards. On this page: Note this particular challenge is no longer able to be completed. What’s new? Chapter 3 Season 3 has arrived! New additions include Reality Seeds and Saplings and riding animals, along with the new Battle Pass, characters collection and map changes....

To complete the challenge, you’ll need to know where the floating ring locations are, then collect five of them - but this doesn’t need to be done in the same Fortnite match. Completing this task will reward you with 15k XP, which will then help you towards unlocking the new Battle Pass skins. Fortnite floating rings locations and how to collect rings near Reality Falls There are a total of ten rings near Reality Falls, but you only need to collect five floating rings to complete this challenge....

The Vibin’ challenges are the new narrative challenges in Fortnite and, like the Resistance challenges in the previous season, follow the storyline for Season 3. Finding old IO Outpost locations and completing each stage of this challenge will reward you with 7k XP, which means you can earn 21k XP in total, which will help you unlock the new Battle Pass skins. On this page: Fortnite old IO Outpost locations Before searching for old IO Outpost locations, you’ll have to establish a Device Uplink first....

This involved deliberately being abducted (along with a bunch of bombs) into the bowels of the capital ship, as directed by Dr. Slone - boss of IO, the island’s group of mysterious and morally-dubious protectors. If you want to watch what happened yourself, Epic has a recap video below: In a big twist, the aliens were revealed to be agents of Kevin the Cube, the infamous evil shape which rumbled around Fortnite’s original map....

In the past, Fortnite has nudged its plot along through season-ending live events that bring buckets of spectacle and typically doom swathes of its map. But avenues for more intricate storytelling have been limited, with players typically left as a distant audience to the events unfolding around them. More recent events have added in a smattering of dialogue and player interaction, but this has been few and far between. All of that changes with the playable Zero Crisis Finale and its three minute introduction cinematic, below, that sets the scene: In short, Agent Jones is trying to save the Zero Point - the orb which acts as both the Fortnite reality’s power source and pathway between dimensions....

You’ll need to have completed the first page of Indiana Jones challenges in order to gain access to the second page, which includes this particular task. Finding the entrance to the secret door location in Fortnite is just one step in this quest, however, as you’ll need to visit a few more areas in Shuffled Shrines to work out the puzzle that opens the door past the main chamber and the secret door within it....

The event ended on Sunday, with over 50 speedruns featured throughout the week including sub two-hour runs of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Mass Effect, and Pokémon Pearl. The event will return as Flame Fatales in August. ORIGINAL STORY 25/02/22: Games Done Quick’s bi-annual all-women event is this weekend on Twitch. Frost Fatales 2022 is another charity fundraiser highlighting the exceptional speedrunning talents of women. It begins on Sunday 27th February and runs until 6th March....