The company’s decided to ditch the “and friends” tag it had given to different bits of its business, and form a fellowship, as it does yet more corporate shuffling around. It does also plan to actually release some more games.
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As announced by Embracer, the bit of previously dubbed Middle-Earth and Friends will now be known as Fellowship Entertainment. As you might have guessed, that’s the part that looks after The Lord of the Rings, as well as housing the studios behind likes of Kingdom Come Deliverance, Tomb Raider, the Metro series, and Dead Island.
With Asmodee, the second of the three bits Embracer divided itself into last year, having spun off from the company as of February this year, it’s the turn of the third bit formerly known as Coffee Stain & Friends to do the same. Now named Coffee Stain Group, the subsidiary that includes the dev teams behind the likes of Deep Rock Galactic, Valheim and Goat Simulator is being released into the economic wild as a separately stock market-listed company.
“The games industry is more competitive than ever, but also more rewarding if you do things right, and we believe this move gives us the clarity and control to navigate the landscape better on our own terms,” Coffee Stain Group CEO Anton Westbergh said, “We can now focus even more on what we do best—supporting our developers, staying close to our communities, and building an even brighter future for Coffee Stain.”
Right, that’s enough on the corporate shuffling of people’s livelihoods. In the financial results it’s published alongside this spin-off announcement, Embracer says that it’s got “76 different games” it plans to release in the coming financial year. There’ll be “a mix of new IPs, sequels, and remasters”, including Killing Floor 3 and the recently delayedMarvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, with Embracer expecting the latter to “drive notable revenues but to have lower margins due to shared economics with several other partners”.
Another as of yet unannounced AAA game that Embracer things will have “financial dynamics more similar to Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2” is also in the works, but the company reckons it’ll have to be pushed back to the 2026/27 financial year to allow for more “polish”
The rest of the lineup for the upcoming is being filled by the likes of Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core, Metal Eden, and “the next SpongeBob SquarePants game”. Spongebob Squarepants tries to get to the Bikini Bottom of where Embracer’s friends have gone, maybe?
Helldivers 2‘s Galactic War arrived on Super Earth earlier today, with the Heart of Democracy update deploying the divers on their first missions to defend the mega cities of their home planet. So far, it’s all going down well with players, especially one new feature – the AI SEAF squads.
To be fair, you can see why. With the latest major order requiring folks to casually kill 2.5 billion Illuminate as they work to activate the cannons they’ll need to see off the squids’ invasion of the planet, every helping hand on Super Earth’s side is a welcome addition.
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Before we get into all the SEAF love, Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani has made it clear this was the thing he was talking about when he teased something was coming to the game that would lead players to defecate in their drawers. Sticking his head above the pulpit in Helldivers 2’s Discord server not long after the update went live, the exec simply asked: “What’s the pant situation soldiers????”
“Evaporated” was one of the first responses he got.
Image credit: VG247
Naturally, it’s the new biomes and big war twist that’ve done a lot of that evaportating, but if you take a look at the game’s subreddit right, you’ll find the AI SEAF squads folks can run into as they run ops on Super Earth getting a loadoflove.
Basically, they’re members of the Super Earth Armed forces you can find running around the streets and enlist to help you take on the Illuminate of you chuck out the right emotes. Naturally, if you drop a salute, they’ll salute back, and they can even be persuaded to follow you around. Depending on who you ask, they’re either surprisingly effective in combat – below is a clip on one helping someone take down an Illuminate Fleshmob – or just cannon fodder.
Players like them so much that there are already calls for Arrowhead to give us the ability to arm the SEAFers with support weapons, become bunker door opening buddies with them, and drop a Warbond that lets folks dress in their trademark blue armour.
As one player with the handle Excelsus328 put it: “I don’t care if they showed the SEAF dying to friendly fire in the trailer, anyone who shoots these soldiers gets the kick”. “Oh god, now I want an emote to sing [the] Super Earth anthem and have them sing it with us like in Earth Defense Force,” added another going by Deathzeis.
Has Helldivers 2’s Heart of Democracy update filled your breeches with something super stinky yet, or are you waiting on tenterhooks to dive in later? Let us know below!
Oblivion Remastered modders continue to drop more and more interesting mods by the day, with an ever-advancing set of tools at their disposal to pull off whatever tweaks or additions strike their fancy.
There’s a deluge of interesting stuff arriving as the boundaries continue to be pushed, and depending on what you’re looking for, different stuff will catch your eye.
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One of the mods that made me personally do a double take when I came across it on Oblivion Remastered’s Nexus Mods page earlier this week was NaiadGirl’s ‘Martin Septim and the Terminator Gambit’, for obvious reasons. It’s a mod that sees you and Sean Bean be pursued wherever you go by a killer level 70 Terminator. From the moment you leave the sewers, there’s a murderous machine which only becomes defeatable once you finish the main quest right on your tail.
I was curious how much work had gone into pulling such a cool concept off at this still relatively early stage of Oblivion Remastered modding, so reached out to NaiadGirl. We talked Terminators and how she’s been finding modding the remaster as she’s made this mod and also tackled making the game’s iconic Oblivion gate battles and goblin wars more dynamic. Here’s my conversation with her:
VG247: What drew you to modding Oblivion Remastered? Did you have any previous experience modding classic Oblivion or other games?
NaiadGirl’s been venturing into those pesky gates for a good while. | Image credit: NaiadGirl
NaiadGirl: I’ve been a fan of Oblivion since I was a little girl, and the same goes for my wife. At first, we were skeptical about the remaster, but soon, we couldn’t help but be drawn in. I’ve been modding Bethesda games casually for over a decade now, but only recently took to making mods myself.
My only previous modding experience was with Deep Rock Galactic, another game that involves Unreal. My wife, on the other hand, has been making mods for years now! Since we both love Oblivion so much, we took to making mods for the remaster.
VG247: How have you generally found modding the remaster so far and getting to grips with tools like UE4SS and TesSyncMapInjector?
NaiadGirl: Modding the remaster has been a rollercoaster of emotions, with highs and lows. The old tools still work, more or less, but there are limitations. There are many features we still can’t work on or with, due to the lack of a proper modding toolkit for this new version of Oblivion.
UE4SS, OBSE64, TesSyncMapInjector; I can go on about the awesome tools people in the community have made. They’re all insanely impressive, and they make things possible that wouldn’t have been without them. I wish some of them had more in-depth documentation, but what can you do? Modding has always been a challenge, and part of the fun is hunting down answers to problems.
The last thing you ever see…provided you don’t make good use of that new sprint button. | Image credit: NaiadGirl
VG247: What inspired the premise for your Martin Septim Terminator mod and what was the process of putting it together like? Were there any elements of it that proved tricky to pull off, or anything you had to cut?
NaiadGirl: My inspiration for my Martin Terminator mod came from a game series I hold close to my heart: Resident Evil. It was originally going to just be the Pursuer itself, its name being ‘Nemesis’. I love the idea of something big and scary chasing you down while you’re already crushed under the pressure of saving the world. Eventually, I switched gears, and made it into a mod that included Martin.
What’s better than just you getting hunted by something scary? You and a friend getting hunted by something scary. Terminator rocks (at least two of them do), so I came up with the idea that Mehrunes Dagon had sent back in time a killer to save his butt at the end of the game. Putting it together had me looking at the code for the Conjurer that chases you down at the start of the [OG Oblivion] Spell Tomes DLC. After I had made a new NPC with the help of UE4SS and TesSyncMapInjector, I put together AI packages & two quest scripts to watch over everything.
Modding is a constant learning experience, and it’s so much fun, even if you can run into walls at times. Frustration quickly gives way to new inspiration. In the end, I didn’t have to cut anything! It’s a simple mod at the end of the day, but one that was incredibly fun to put together.
VG247: Aside from cheesing and running away, is there any other advice you’d give to players trying to beat the Septim Terminator challenge, even if it’s just to invest in spare underpants?
The thread of prophecy has been severed. | Image credit: NaiadGirl
NaiadGirl: I’ve been doing a lot of messing around with the Terminator in my latest playthrough. It’s tough, but not impossible to defeat (at least after the MQ is over!). Until you beat Dagon, you have to always be one step ahead of this machine marvel. It doesn’t care where you might be, because it will find you.
I was doing the Mythic Dawn Shrine quest, and by the time I had cut my way through the dungeon, freed the prisoner, and slept an hour to level up, there it was. The Argonian I worked so hard to protect was dead at its cold feet. I had no choice but to cut my losses and run. Plan your journey, hit stores up when you can, and always keep moving. It will kill indiscriminately if it finds you!
Once you finish the main quest, you have a few options: Dungeon traps, boss NPCs, crowds, or a duel to the death! You need to be at a fairly high level to defeat it! I would think there’s feasibility in taking it on at around level 25 on, if you plan your build well. The Terminator regens health, so always keep the damage on it!
You’ll need powerful equipment or a massive numbers advantage. I’m thinking I’ll slay my dragon at Cloud Ruler Temple, the place I have been keeping it away from at all costs. The Blades and I will make a final stand against Oblivion! I wish only the best of luck to would-be challengers. I love to hear stories about this fella.
VG247: What’s the Oblivion Remastered modding scene been like community-wise from your perspective so far? Have you had any interactions with other modders where you’ve gotten any helpful support/feedback on your mods or learned things you might otherwise not have?
NaiadGirl: The modding scene is filled with incredibly talented people. Many are willing to offer a helping hand, in my experience (within reason, of course!). Getting feedback on my mods is always greatly appreciated, and seeing the kind things people have said makes my day that much brighter.
Like I’ve touched on, modding is a constant learning experience, and you’re always finding something new that you didn’t quite know yet. Margaret, my wife, has quite a bit of Bethesda modding experience, and even she learns things through me as we work together. Modding is a beautiful, delicate dance, and it’s not one to be rushed. Take your time, do your research, and make something amazing with the community at your side!
We could end up dealing with even more terrifying modded threats than this, Grandmaster. | Image credit: VG247
VG247: What are your personal and general hopes for Oblivion Remastered modding going forwards? Are there any complex mod ideas you’re keen to try and make or any tools you’re hoping will pop up to make certain things easier/possible?
NaiadGirl: I have immense hopes for the modding scene going forward. Bethesda may be saying that mods aren’t officially supported, but I still hold onto the hope that we may one day get a proper Creation Set for Oblivion Remastered. They haven’t dropped the ball yet, and I would hope they wouldn’t now, with one of their all-time best creations. I truly believe a new kit is on the way, sooner or later.
If we do get official tools, modding is going to really pop off. You look at what we have now, and it’s only going to get bigger, and more accessible to the masses. Access to official tools will make a world of difference, and change things for the better. I’m hoping for an expansion on the Oblivion Remastered Script Extender (OBSE64) if the official tools give way. That won’t stop me from trying to make something crazy, though.
My next mod is focused on a pandemic outbreak. I’m very excited to continue my work on it, and share it with the world. I’m even more excited to see what the rest of the community can cook up. The community is insanely resourceful, and official tools or not, we’ll be making something beautiful together. Never stop making what you love.
Fortnite developer Epic recently suggested the game might become available on iOS in the US for the first time since 2020 soon, but it’s now looking like that won’t be happening. Why? Well, Epic’s accusing Apple, its long-time sparring partner in an ongoing legal battle, of storeblocking.
As we reported last week, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney had launched a fresh effort to get Apple to agree to re-admit the game to its App Store following a judge issuing a pretty damning verdict against the fruit company in the latest legal skirmish between the two. This is all about payment options and the cut Apple takes of them via its store, with Epic having decided five years ago that this was something it wouldn’t stand for.
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Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has claimed it originally submitted Fortnite for Apple to review on May 9 and then resubmitted a new version on May 14 in order to include a fresh update to the game. Now, the publisher’s put out the following statement via the official Fortnite Twitter account:
“Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission so we cannot release to the US App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union. Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it.”
Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission so we cannot release to the US App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union. Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it.
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Sweeney himself has also been tweeting, declaring in one post: “Apple’s App Review team should be free to review all submitted apps promptly and accept or reject according to the plain language of their guidelines. App Review shouldn’t be weaponized by senior management as a tool to delay or obstruct competition, due process, or free speech.”
This all comes after that aforementioned court verdict, which saw Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rule that Apple was “in wilful violation” of previous court injunction that it had to allow purchases made for iOS games and apps through outside web links. It did, but then instituted a 27% commission on such purchases.
“Apple’s response to the Injunction strains credulity,” the court’s verdict read, “After two sets of evidentiary hearings, the truth emerged Apple, despite knowing its obligations thereunder, thwarted the injunction’s goals, and continued its anticompetitive conduct solely to maintain its revenue stream.”
We’ll just have to see how things go from here, as it looks like this fight is nowhere near a resolution that would see one victor left default dancing, or more realistically a bunch of suits going back to whatever else it is they do with their time.
Baldur’s Gate 3‘s Patch 8 was the game’s last big update, but it’s still getting handly little hotfixes to iron out bugs and issues. The latest, hotfix 31, takes care of plenty of stuff like that, including a pretty wacky-sounding visual glitch, but I do have to take issue with one of its tweaks to photo mode.
You can find the full notes for hotfix 31 here, and they make for refreshingly light reading compared to the great big tomes of tweaks the game’s full updates often dropped with.
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The most eye-catchjing of its fixes, and the one Larian’s led with, aims to stop folks having a “kaleidoscope of colours” appear on sceen when their party switches locations. This Aurora Badrealis is apparently made up of “trippy, high-saturation graphical artefacts”, and was prone to cropping up when you teleported via a waypoint.
Aside from that Larian’s “removed some defunct dialogue that mistakenly made it into Minthara’s Speak with Dead dialogue in Patch 8”, with players reckoning this is the cut chatter Minty had about having a daughter, which never made it into the final game.
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Staying with Patch 8, the new subclasses that added to the game are subject of a whole host of fixes, including one that nixes a bug that let sneak attacks be triggered on activating Dirty Trick: Sand Toss, and another which was causing Shadow Blade to lose properties like bonus damage when you lost conditions like concentration.
But enough of those, which you can read more about in the full notes. One of Larian’s two photo mode tweaks is downright scandalous. The studio’s “fixed wild-shaped boars and cats not paying proper attention to the ‘Look at Camera’ option”. Larian, cats totally ignoring you when you try to get them to look at a camera so you can take a photo of their funny little face is like 2/3 of the whole experience of owning a cat – I assume wild-shape cats are no different.
You can’t just go against nature like this in game that features all kinds of magic, goblins, and shaggable brain-eating tentacle dudes who appear in your dreams. Won’t somebody think of the immersion? What is being exposed to this going to do to our precious realism?
Do you and you cat agree with this fix? Are they looking everywhere but the screen as you hold them you to it in a vain attempt to get them to answer that question? Let us know below while all of us keep on waiting for whatever Larian’s next game is.
OG Oblivion’s AI goblin wars are the stuff of legend. Oh, by the way, someone wrote in an obscure forum post or article you likely read after you thought you’d turned over every interesting stone in Cyrodiil, you can cause full-on goblin wars just by nicking their totems.
Naturally, it’s not taken Oblivion Remastered modders long to turn their attention to making this cool system with some typical 2006 limitations into something with even more wacky potential that’s less reliant on you deciding to spend hours personally playing puppetmaster.
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Enter modder NaiadGirl’s ‘Enhanced Goblin Wars‘. While it’s not the first mod for the remaster to try its hand at improving the gobbo war mechanics – ImmortanJoel’s ‘Goblin Wars Remastered‘ scored that honour at a glance – it does look like the most detailed and expansive add-on for goblin fight club sickos right now.
It makes the goblin wars dynamic rather than static. So, instead of there only being two goblin wars that start without your input in the base game, with any additional ones only happening if you personally get involved and trigger them by moving the seven different tribes’ totems around the map, the gobbos will now start fresh conflicts on their own.
“Every 5 in-game days, a new Goblin War has a 20% chance to trigger,” NaiadGirl wrote, “Surrounded by shadow, sneaky goblin thieves steal a rival’s totem when no one’s watching, and place it in their respective lair. The War Chief of the wronged tribe will embark with a group of Greenskins to the opposition’s lair, and attempt to take back what is theirs! That is, if they’re able to cross Cyrodiil alive…whether they succeed or not, they’ll be causing trouble in the countryside and cities alike.”
The mod also makes sure the goblins can pursue their totem no matter where in the world it ends up – even if that involves assaulting and breaking into the Imperial City itself, a tweak that’ll be endlessly helping if you still fancy nicking totems yourself to cause chaos.
Plus, the modder’s included an optional Amulet of Goblin Friendship found near Vilverin, which as its name suggests will make every gobbo refrain from trying to bash your skull in. Very handy if you want to kick back with the popcorn and watch a goblin skirmish unfold from right up close, because the arena’s just too boujee a means of fulfilling your need to watch some NPCs have a bloody barney.
It’s worth noting that the mod can add some extra complications to the quest Goblin Trouble by moving the totem it involves about, but NaiadGirl reckons it “shouldn’t be game-breaking” so long as the quest marker still points to the totem in its new location.
Make sure to check out the rest of our cool Oblivion Remastered mod coverage, including our recent interview with the modder who managed to make the first ever tweak to its world just one day after release.
The final Dune Awakening beta is now live, which will allow thousands of fresh-faced players to hop into Funcom’s open world survival MMO for the first time. This beta, which is running over the weekend, will cover the first two major zones of the game, giving folks a peek at the early game experience.
The beta, announced following the release date of the game being pushed back to June 10, is running a few days before the previous date of May 15. A balm to those still burned by the delay, and the last opportunity people will get to check out the game for free.
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This is also the first time your average gamer will get a chance to learn about the game. Our own preview of the early game went live last month, and was largely positive overall. However this preview – which covers the same scope of content that’ll be available in this weekend’s beta – still left us with many questions on what the game will ultimately be building up to in its end-game – a portion that has been discussed by the team, but not shown off to a great extent.
In order to get into this beta, players will have to either wishlist the game on Steam and wait for access to be sent their way via email, or get access via developer giveaways. Access has already been handed out to folks, but it’s not out of the question that more people will be let in over the weekend. So keep an eye out if you’re keen to give it a try, and maybe throw a wishlist on the game for a chance. You never know, you may get lucky!
Are you going to try the game out this weekend? Let us know below, as well as whether or not you’re excited for Dune Awakening!
Yep, an Oblivion Remastered modder has done the thing all of us have secretly wanted for years. They’ve stuck a penthouse at the summit of the Imperial City’s White-Gold Tower, so you can live far above the potato-faced NPC masses and take in the views like a Cyrodiilic and pre-computer version of New Vegas‘ Mr House.
As player home mods go, it’s possibly the least subtle bit of design placement I’ve ever seen, but let’s face it, you didn’t splash out for an remaster with gorgeous UE5 visuals not to be able to take in a stunning panorama of central Cyrodiil from your character’s digs.
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The modder behind this goes by RBDinteractive, and their ‘Champion Penthouse‘ is designed to finally deliver a reward for ending the Oblivion Crisis and saving the entire world that isn’t just some admittedly cool armour you might not even end up using.
The concept’s very similar to a classic Oblivion mod – Vince Bly’s ‘Top of the World‘. Based on the fact RBDinteractive’s credited the fix and port script for OG Oblivion mods that modder Haphestia (whom we’ve recently interviewed about Oblivion Remastered modding) has developed for the remaster, it looks like there’s even a chance one could be loosely based on the other.
Though, there are plenty of differences, with Top of the World’s square wooden room atop the tower could seemingly only be fast-travelled to, while the Champion Penthouse is a rounded stone suite that slightly more closely matches the design of the tower itself, and can be gotten to via a ladder found to the right when you enter at ground level.
Not a bad place to crash, eh? | Image credit: RBDinteractive/Bethesda
The furnishings and architecture are different, but the view’s the same breathtaking one that’s prompted both modders to decide to perch a house that’s open to Cyrodiil’s wider worldspace here, so you can take in the views from any angle in all their glory.
It’s worth noting that as for right now the Champion’s Penthouse is accessible at any time for free, since it’s free and there’s no quest attached, but RBDinteractive’s suggested that might change soon. “I’m gonna try to learn how to edit quests and [have] homes be purchased,” they wrote in the mod’s comments section, “I’ll let you know if I get it working. My idea would be to get the penthouse when you beat the main quest, because everyone refers to you as Champion.”
So, there you go. A house ideal for those who love nice views, and the literal worst nightmare of those who’re afraid of heights. Hey, you’ve fought your way through legions of Daedra pouring out of a not-quite-hell, surely you can handle the terror of knowing you might plummet to your death if you sleepwalk ten feet.
GTA 6 has just gotten a second trailer. Yep, I repeat, trailer two is here, this is not a drill.
Of course, it does come after the game’s release was delayed last week. After all the speculation it might be pushed back and Rockstar sticking to that vague Fall release window for ages, GTA 6‘ll be dropping on May 26, 2026.
“We are very sorry that this is later than you expected,” Rockstar wrote in its Newswire post announcing the delay last week, “The interest and excitement surrounding a new Grand Theft Auto has been truly humbling for our entire team. We want to thank you for your support and your patience as we work to finish the game.
“With every game we have released, the goal has always been to try and exceed your expectations, and Grand Theft Auto VI is no exception. We hope you understand that we need this extra time to deliver at the level of quality you expect and deserve.
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This is a breaking story, so we’ll add more deets soon.
HoYoverse finally announced the Honkai Star Rail x Fate collaboration release date during the second HSR concert, including details about which characters will join the space game’s roster. HSR x Fate kicks off on July 11, 2025, in an event called Sweet Dreams and the Holy Grail, and it adds two new 5-star characters from the Fate series to HSR’s list of playable characters.
One of them is Saber, a 5-star Destruction character with wind as her element. Saber, aka Artoria Pendragon, is one of Fate’s main characters and first debuted in 2004’s Fate/Stay Night. Saber will run for the usual length of time in a limited event banner. The second Fate character in HSR is Archer, another long-time favorite. Archer is a 5-star Hunt character with quantum as his element, and anyone who logs into Honkai Star Rail during Sweet Dreams and the Holy Grail will get him for free.
Get your very own free man for a limited time | Image credit: HoYoverse
HoYoverse said the free Archer giveaway will last through the end of Honkai Star Rail 3.6. Based on the game’s current update calendar, that’d be sometime in November 2025. Assuming the free Archer event is like the time HoYoverse gave Dr Ratio away, you’ll probably only need to be at the story’s beginning, at the point where you unlock the warp function.
Saber will have “exciting” interactions with the Trailblaze crew during the event’s associated story missions. Fate writer Kinoko Nasu penned the crossover event’s story, and artist Takashi Takeuchi created the Honkai Star Rail versions of Archer and Saber.
HoYoverse also teased a new Honkai game during the concert, though had no further information to share at the time.
