The Escapist brought you news a short while ago that YouTuber Peri Fractic had seemingly been successful in his crusade to rescue the much-loved Commodore brand and hopefully re-ignite a future for one of the reasons we are all here today. You can read all about that here.
At the time, he promised there would be new hardware launching, but little further information was available.
This morning, however, a new video has dropped unveiling the Commodore 64 Ultimate – a new machine that can be pre-ordered and is expected to ship before the end of the year.
This is the first official Commodore 64 in over 30 years and is a faithful recreation of the original motherboard on FPGA hardware, housed in a glowing translucent case, classic beige box, or even the special gold Founder’s Edition.
The machine will come in a variety of modern builds as well as that classic beige ‘breadbin’ look, which is the one I am about to order.
Commodore 64 Ultimate Features
Play 10,000+ original games.
Plug in dusty old cartridges, CRT TVs, datasettes, or disk drives – it all works.‡
Light up the room with a game sound-reactive hidden-LED color-changing case† and the world’s first translucent mechanical keyboard PCB.†
Includes a cassette-style USB packed with 50+ titles – full games, licensed classics, music, demos, and Commodore’s exclusive new sequel to our first ever game – Jupiter Lander: Ascension.
Get lost in the spiral-bound manual with BASIC coding adventures, and ogle the glossy original-style box.
Enjoy HDMI clarity, Wi-Fi game transfer, USB convenience.
Hidden inside: the autographs/names of C64 creators past and present, etched forever in the motherboard copper.*
Commodore 64 Ultimate models
There are three models available for pre-order:
Starlight Edition@ $349.99
BASIC Beige: $299.99
Founder’s Edition: $499.99
The Founder’s Edition is described as follows:
“Inspired by the famous one millionth gold C64, the Gold Founders Edition adds 24k gold-plated badges, satin gold keys, a translucent amber case, commemorative Commodore gold seal ‘share’ certificate, “I Rebooted C=” tee, and a gold label holographic serial number sticker starting at 00000001 – that boosts the mission to reboot Commodore.
When will the C64 Ultimate be released?
The first batch of machines is earmarked for October/November of this year and can be pre-ordered now at the website. Like Kickstarter, you will be charged now but there is a full money refund available should you change your mind.
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⚠️ This page mixes confirmed information with industry rumors and speculation. We’ll keep it updated as new details and leaks come to light.
007 First Light has to be the one upcoming game that I’m most excited for right now, with GTA 6 being a close second. Developed by IO Interactive, a studio we all know and love for its Hitman series, the game will explore an all-new story for James Bond.
Instead of following a storyline from one of the movies, IO Interactive reimagined Bond’s origin story, introducing us to the rebellious agent before he ever became a spy. 007 will be younger than we’ve ever seen him before, but you can bet that his charm and penchant for getting in (and out of) trouble will be just the same. It was originally known as Project 007.
The Escapist recaps
007 First Light, the new Bond game, is currently being developed by IO Interactive, the studio behind the Hitman franchise.
The game is shaping up to be a third-person action-adventure, featuring a blend of cinematics, dynamic combat scenes, stealthy action, and story-driven depth.
This is the first new James Bond game in over a decade, and IO Interactive is diving right in with its own, previously unseen storyline.
Players will meet familiar faces from the Bond universe, but also brand-new characters, such as a mysterious figure designated as 009.
Similar to the recent Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the game appears to be set in various locations around the globe.
When could 007 First Light be released?
IO InteractiveIO Interactive
While the 007 First Light release date has yet to be revealed, IO Interactive has confirmed the game will be coming sometime in 2026. The current development stage is still a mystery, so we don’t even have a ballpark as to whether 007 First Light will arrive in the first or the second half of the year. However, there are signs pointing to it being sooner rather than later.
While the 007 First Light release window seems vague, we can look to the studio’s previous work, Hitman 3, for a rough time frame of when the James Bond title could debut. Hitman 3 was announced in June 2020 before being released in January 2021, a gap of just seven months. Similarly, First Light was officially revealed in June 2025 and could come out early next year.
Expected 007 First Light price & pre-orders
While we still don’t know the confirmed007 First Light price, we can speculate given the state of the industry, as the game is likely to cost $70 / £70 / €70 in line with today’s AAA releases. The studio’s previous standalone release, Hitman 3, debuted at $60 / £60 / €60 back in 2021, which was then later replaced by the tiered monetization system of World of Assassination.
It’s also likely that we’ll see different 007 First Light editions alongside the standard version. For those who sign up at the game’s official website, they can unlock the “On Duty” outfit (a black turtleneck with holster inspired by Daniel Craig’s look in No Time To Die) and the Gilded Wrath golden Walther PPK. We could see a deluxe/premium edition including more cosmetics.
Considering the lack of a firm release window,007 First Light pre-orders aren’t open yet, but you can already wishlist the game on Steam. It’s possible that we could see a confirmed price and pre-order window available by the end of 2025, around the Holiday period, to gear fans up. However, as IO Interactive is privately owned, it could break away from genre conventions.
007 First Light platforms
Although 007 First Light was announced at Sony’s State of Play, the game is, fortunately, not a PS5 exclusive. The new James Bond game will be available on the PlayStation 5, but also on the Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via the Epic Games Store and Steam. However, PS5 Pro gamers will be able to enjoy PSSR and 60 fps in Quality Mode.
By the looks of it, we’re in for a treat. IO Interactive shared a three-minute trailer of 007 First Light, and the game appears to be fast-paced, action-packed, and rather story-driven.
The 007 First Light trailer starts by making us privy to a conversation involving M and Greenway, a new mentor figure for Bond. Bond appears to have made an impression during a mission in Iceland, but his recklessness and rebellious spirit have done him no favors with Greenway. M, however, is impressed.
“Always at the top of his class,” says M of young Bond. “Always at odds with authority,” counters Greenway. Bond fears nothing and relies on luck to keep him alive, and that makes him a “bullet without a target” in the eyes of his mentors. That’s not a bad thing—that’s exactly what MI6 wants to see.
We learn the origin story of James Bond, whose parents died to save his life, and he had to witness it firsthand. He’d been bouncing around all kinds of boarding schools ever since. When the game begins, Bond is 26, and he’s not a spy yet—he’s a Royal Navy air crewman, later recruited into MI6.
The 007 trailer sets the stage for a completely new story. 007 First Light is set in the modern day, long before any of the movies ever took place. Aside from new characters such as the mysterious antagonist referred to as 009, we’ll see familiar faces, such as M, Q, and Moneypenny.
Apart from giving us a glimpse into Bond’s dark story, the trailer shows us the kind of 007 First Light gameplay we can expect. Bond travels all over the globe, sneaks around, shoots his gun, and throws grenades, not to mention racing fancy-looking cars and looking death in the eye (on more than one occasion). It appears to be a more cinematic take on the studio’s previous work with the Hitman reboot trilogy.
Ask The Escapist
Is 007 First Light PlayStation exclusive?
Fortunately, 007 First Light is not a PlayStation exclusive. The game is confirmed for a broad multi-platform release in 2026, and will be available on the PS5, but also on the Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S.
Who is playing James Bond in 007 First Light?
IO Interactive has yet to reveal who will play James Bond in 007 First Light, but the rumor mill is buzzing with just one name: Patrick Gibson. This widespread belief stems from his striking resemblance to the character shown in the reveal trailer.
Will 007 First Light be on PC?
Yes, 007 First Light will be available on PC in 2026. You’ll be able to buy the game through Steam and the Epic Games Store.
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It’s been a little over two years since the last full version update of the best-known and loved emulator for the Commodore Amiga landed, and now, with that amount of time passed, we have just got WinUAE 6. Now, for Amiga fans, this is hugely exciting, especially if you don’t have access to original hardware or space to leave them set up.
Real hardware fans could still sometimes tell the difference between their beige boxes and Amiga emulation, but now with the release of v6 this gap has closed exponentially. Even as advanced as it was, WinUAE could still cause inconsistencies in certain games due to chipset timings, so news that we now have a, “Major update to custom chipset emulation. Internally, almost everything in main chipset emulation has been rewritten.” means we are closer than ever to perfect emulation of this classic piece of hardware,
There is a ton of other changes under the hood, and we will start seeing this version filter into the front-end packages that rely on it soon enough. In the meantime, you can check out the video below for a deeper dive into what’s new.
The Amiga was a machine that is largely responsible for my entire career in games journalism, so I have a very soft spot for it in my heart. Even though we are in 2025 now, it seems Commodore news is coming thick and fast and will only develop further in the coming months.
If you want to get into the world of Amiga emulation with minimum fuss, there is also a new version of Cloanto’s Amiga Forever software that uses the new WinUAE update.
You can read the full changelog for WinUAE 6 right here, but we have picked out a few tasty paragraphs that caught our attention.
Custom chipset emulation (Agnus/Alice and Denise/Lisa) almost completely rewritten. Almost every part of chipset emulation is now internally cycle accurate.
Custom chipset Denise/Lisa emulation is now running in separate thread for large performance increase in accurate emulation modes compared to previous versions.
Default configuration is now cycle-exact A500. Previously default was approximate A500.
CD32 CD reads should be more real optical drive friendly, when CD32 is reading data sequentially (playing CD streaming animation or video), host side CD sector reads are now also sequential, without periodically re-reading part of previously read sectors.
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Satisfactory from Coffee Stain has been one of the standout games of recent years. The factory/automation simulation has absorbed so many player hours since it first came out in Early Access five years ago that we could almost have built our own off-world factory.
Within the last year or so, it was finally released properly and has now moved to version 1.1 more recently with a whole host of changes that make the game even greater.
To celebrate, Coffee Stain and merch partner Heroic Miniatures have teamed up once more to bring a new Kickstarter to the table, which will put some more Satusfactory merchandise out in the wild.
There are two options in the main, the Satisfactory Big Box bundle and the Satisfactory remote control Factory Cart, which you get to make yourself out of little bricks.
The big box is very cool and resembles the big box games of yesteryear. However, only this one comes with merchandise, including a cloth map, posable figures, a mouse or desk mat, and a baseball cap, plus more bits and bobs.
Interestingly, considering it mimics a game box, you don’t receive a copy of the game. Coffee Stain explains that they want to reward existing players rather than use it as a tool to sell the game, which I suppose is fair enough.
There is a lot of cool stuff here, and the project has already been back very quickly, so it will definitely go ahead with rewards set to arrive before the end of the year. There’s even a festive jumper add-on that should land just in time for Ficsmas.
At the time of writing, there are still 27 days left in the campaign, and it has already raised nearly three times the target amount with just under 800 backers. This number is set to rise considerably by the time it closes.
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A new monitor is one of those purchases most people tend to make when their old one either packs in or they finally decide they want a bigger one.
Over the years, I have had double-monitor and triple-monitor setups. I’ve toyed with portable monitors as a second screen and even projectors. Much of this has been led by my penchant for driving and flight simulations, where extra screen real estate can be beneficial. But the problem is, with working at the same desk as well, it also has to fit right for my writing needs, so that means dangling stuff at weird angles doesn’t always work for me.
A couple of years ago, when the Samsung G9 came out, I really wanted one but simply couldn’t justify the cost – you can buy a first car for a teenager for that price – trust me, you can. As tech moves forward, though, we see a lot of prices coming down, especially in the TV and monitor spaces. The speed at which new panels are developed is pretty astounding. All this means that tech that was out of the price range of the masses not that long ago is now more than in reach.
So, in this growing landscape of ultrawide monitors, the INNOCN 49Q1R stands out immediately — and not just because of its size. This is a 49-inch monitor aimed directly at users who want a huge, immersive workspace or gaming setup without the eye-watering price tag of some better-known brands. It’s still not exactly cheap, but compared to rivals like Samsung’s Odyssey G9 series, it’s priced pretty well at a good level. The big question is whether it delivers enough quality and performance to make it a worthwhile investment. The answer, after a couple of months of use for me, is a resounding yes, with a few caveats.
Design and Build
Unboxing the 49Q1R – and it is huge when it arrives. It’s not that it is heavy per se, but with the box and secure packing inside, a second pair of hands is useful to get it to its final resting spot. It’s hard not to be impressed, and possibly a little intimidated, by its sheer footprint.
This is a 32:9 aspect ratio display with a resolution of 5120×1440, essentially two 27-inch 1440p monitors fused together by magic with no bezel gap. The curve (1800R) helps make that size manageable on a desk, though it still demands a fair amount of space — you’ll want a deep desk to get the full benefit without craning your neck. I have it on my Flexispot, and I dispensed with the previous monitor arm I was using and went with the included stand for ease – mainly because I couldn’t find an Allen key. This takes up a bit of desk real estate but is decent and allows height and swivel adjustment, and I had no problems getting it exactly where I wanted it.
The build quality is solid enough. It’s not flashy — mostly matte plastic with minimal Innocn branding (while I’m on the subject, doesn’t it need an extra vowel – what do I know?) — but nothing feels cheap or flimsy.
Ports are generous. You’ve got two HDMI 2.1 inputs, one DisplayPort 1.4, USB-C with 90W PD, and several USB-A ports for peripherals. The USB-C charging is a nice touch for laptop users, and it’s good to see full-fat HDMI 2.1 support for console gamers. They, like most monitors, are not the easiest to get to, and with the sense of this thing reaching around the back, it is not as simple as I would love it to be. A little breakout box would be a fabulous addition. I pre-empted future issues by attaching all the cables I might ever need before finishing the setup, but if I ever need to change it, it will be a pain, I know it will.
As you can see in the image below, the screen is also backlit with some ambient lighting. This doesn’t change with what’s on screen and in practice, somewhat weirdly, even in a dark room, I don’t even notice it is on. I discovered it by accident when I was messing around the back a few weeks into this review. I don’t really understand how they are that dim.
Image Quality
This is where things get interesting. The 49Q1R is a low-cost OLED panel, and it delivers the sort of deep contrast you’d expect to pay a lot more for. Blacks are genuinely dark, and there’s decent colour pop out of the box. INNOCN rates it at 95% DCI-P3 coverage, and while we didn’t run lab-grade tests because nobody but the dorks really cares, it looks stunning in games that truly support the 32:9 aspect ratio on offer here.
The amazing Blade-Runner-esque city builder Distopika, which you haven’t heard of but you need to buy on Steam immediately, is mind-blowingly beautiful spread across all 49 inches of screen.
Having said that, I’ll be honest, the HDR setting didn’t do it for me. It seemed to wash things out, and I much preferred the 49Q1R’s normal settings. Still, HDR support is there, and in practice, it makes a subtle difference in well-lit scenes and games — just don’t expect OLED-style contrast or blooming-free highlights because you won’t get them. Corners have had to be cut somewhere for the price, and this is an example of that, perhaps.
Productivity and Workflow
For work, this monitor is a dream. The pixel density is the same as a 27-inch 1440p monitor, so text remains crisp, and you’ve got acres of horizontal space for multiple windows. Whether you’re video editing, coding, or juggling multiple browser tabs, the workflow advantage is immediate. I have Windows tracking analytics, Google Docs, Discord, and Plexamp up and running with plenty of space to spare. Windows 11 is much better equipped for snapping your windows into place where you want them these days, so fiddly resizing is a thing of the past.
The panel also supports Picture-in-Picture mode, which effectively turns it into two separate displays. This is genuinely useful if you’re working across two machines, like a desktop and a laptop — you can keep both onscreen at once without any external switchers. You might think who does that, but I did and had a Raspberry Pi 5 in one window and my main PC in the other.
One minor gripe: while the on-screen display is functional, the controls (located underneath the bezel) can be fiddly to use. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it’s one area where more premium monitors offer a smoother experience. You are restricted to a single button, which takes you into the menu. You will mostly use it for on/off, but if you are messing around with PiP or input modes, it can occasionally frustrate.
Gaming Performance
The 49Q1R supports up to 144Hz refresh rate with Adaptive Sync, and gaming on this thing is undeniably immersive. The wide field of view in racing sims and FPS titles feels genuinely next-gen, and you get the smoothness benefits of high refresh, assuming your GPU can handle pushing 5120×1440 at those frame rates.
Input lag is low, and response times are decent, if not blistering. This isn’t a monitor aimed at esports pros, but for most gamers, me included, it’s plenty fast enough. There is a bit of smearing in dark transitions, but my eyes are so bad these days I barely notice — but nothing that ruins the experience.
If you’re on a PS5 or Xbox Series X, you’ll want to double-check game support for ultrawide resolutions. Most console titles will fall back to 16:9 and leave black bars on the sides. PC gamers, meanwhile, will get the full benefit in titles that support 32:9, which not all do. When you find something that does it well, though, you will want to show off your new toy, and settings for 32:9 are becoming more readily available out of the box. This is more of a monitor you will be interested if you game on a PC though.
Verdict
The INNOCN 49Q1R gets such a lot right it still makes me smile. It offers a massive ultrawide experience with strong contrast, good colour accuracy, and solid gaming credentials — all at a price that undercuts the big names in the space by several hundred of your local dubloons. It’s also on sale at the moment in this iteration. You can pick one up for $799 or £586 directly from the manufacturer.
It’s not perfect: HDR is limited, occasional smearing is present, and the physical footprint may be a challenge for smaller desks. But for the price, it’s madness. In the arena of new screens, you shouldn’t be afraid of going with a brand you may never have heard of. You are paying a premium for certain name tags, and, if funds are more limited, or you are simply more frugal with your cash but still want a close approximation of what you get from a Samsung, the INNOCN 49Q1R is highly recommended.
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Last week’s gut-wrenching flurry of game cancellations and layoffs due to Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios cuts didn’t just affect the company’s owned, first-party studios. Third-party developers, like Romero Games, were impacted too. The studio formed by Doom co-creator John Romero announced that funding for its upcoming, triple-A FPS game had been pulled, and dozens of devs announced they were being let go, with some claiming the whole studio was shutting down. However, there’s a glimmer of hope for Romero Games and its new project, as the studio has just released a new statement clarifying that the studio hasn’t fully closed and that other publishers have reached out that are “interested in helping us bring the game across the finish line.”
The Xbox cuts have been truly savage. Hundreds of developers are going to lose their jobs, and some long-awaited projects like the Perfect Dark reboot, Rare’s Everwild, and an ambitious sci-fi game from Zenimax Online Studios were all shelved. While Romero Games hasn’t explicitly confirmed that Xbox Game Studios was backing its new project, the coincidentally timed cancelation of its next game and claims from employees strongly suggested that it was affected too. While very little was known about it other than it was a first-person shooter, Romero’s reputation for helping shape games like Doom and Quake was enough to make it one of the most exciting upcoming PC games.
Despite some claims from employees (and then subsequent reports by the media) that the studio was letting all of its workforce go and would close, Romer Games has just released a statement clarifying that it has not been shuttered and that it’s currently in talks to save its project.
“Romero Games is not closed, and we are doing everything in our power to ensure that it does not come to that,” the statement says. “Any suggestion otherwise is factually incorrect. Indeed, we were in the studio today to discuss next steps with the team.
“We’ve been contacted by several publishers interested in helping us bring the game across the finish line, and we’re currently evaluating those opportunities.”
This new FPS game has been in the works since 2022, and while it’s not got to the stage where Romero Games has fully revealed it or shown off gameplay, you’d expect a decent amount of progress to have been made in that time. Romero’s reputation for creating amazing shooters, the triple-A scope, and the fact that Xbox was compelled enough to back it originally no doubt makes it an interesting prospect for these new publishers. Hopefully the right deal is struck, because it’s one that could potentially save some or all of the jobs that are set to be lost at Romero Games.
The first few minutes of Mecha Break are mindblowing. I’m torn somewhere between not having a clue what’s going on as hints and tutorials are thrown at me with voiced lines that are a little too low to pick out and are drowned out by the battle and explosions happening all around, and a unique adrenelin rush at all the on-screen action.
Somehow, I get through it. Somehow, I keep managing to destroy the cannon fodder thrown in my path, and yet somehow I feel as though I am a mighty mech hammering my left mouse button with no mercy and splintering giant robots into flying shards everywhere.
In truth, perhaps the opening salvo of Mecha Break is just a mainly, almost on-rails opener that is slickly produced and wonderfully executed.
The first 25 minutes or so of Mecha Break are like living in a Gundam/Macross hybrid world being broadcast on kids’ Saturday morning TV in the 1980s, and it is absolutely glorious.
It’s near 50 gig free download on Steam belies its true purpose in life, however, and that is to, immediately after the opening is done with, ram your face into an item shop filled with ludicrously priced skins and add-ons.
The last time things felt this egregious was when Warhammer 40k Darktide launched with hardly any game but with a perfectly functioning item shop.
Now, to be fair, Darktide was not a free-to-play game, so it deserved its flak, but being presented with a £48/$65 skin and mech bundle almost immediately is a bit in your face. There are plenty of other things to buy as well, bought with in-game currency and other opportunities to dump real money into. There is no way to tell yet how many people will pay for this stuff ultimately, and the publishers may well be hoping for whales to hoover it all up, but it all just feels a little, well, grubby.
This is especially true as a lot of the purchases have a 7-day free trial, which sounds like a nice idea to try stuff out, but it’s unclear how many will actually not purchase and cancel during the free week.
The two beta tests, which I didn’t actually play, were hugely lauded for the customization options for players. Many of the complaints on the Steam reviews where Mecha Break has a predictable Mixed rating bemoan that these have been whipped out or put behind a paywall.
Yes, you can ignore all of this stuff, and there is a really fun game in there with face-paced mech-combat included, 6v6 PVP, and Arena mode where the first to eight kills wins. There’s even an extraction attempt with you versus both players and the environment.
Mecha Break is a cool game….but….
I also don’t really think you can compare this sort of cosmetic item dropping to something like DCS World, where, yes, the game is free and you have to purchase other aircraft and maps, but these you have to learn to fly and add to the gameplay. An overpriced skin is not that.
I’m going to keep Mecha Break on my hard drive for a while yet and see how things develop. There are certainly enough people playing right now on Steam to confirm to me it’s a huge amount of fun. The payer drop-off numbers over the next seven days may be interesting. Whether the devs will take any of the initial critique on board may be significant for Mecha Break’s future successes.
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Say goodbye to the nostalgia of I Spy on long road trips, but only if you have a selected Audi model. The car giant has teamed up with AirConsole to bring gaming into the cabin, albeit with a heap of safety caveats to ensure the driver doesn’t get involved in any marathon sessions.
“This is a game-changer for in-car entertainment. With Audi, we’re redefining what’s possible inside a vehicle—bringing gaming into motion and making every journey more social and fun,” says Anthony Cliquot, CEO at N-Dream, the makers of AirConsole. “By enabling gameplay on the passenger screen in a way that prioritizes safety by not distracting the driver, we’re taking a bold yet responsible step toward a future where cars are not just modes of transport, but platforms for shared digital experiences.”
So far, so PR, but what does it actually mean? Well, in Audi models equipped with a passenger display and Audi’s Active Privacy Mode – a digital curtain that blocks the screen from the driver to prevent any distractions beyond shouting and throwing your controller around when you rage quit – the front passenger can now enjoy gaming while the vehicle is in motion. It is slightly weird that many of the press shots for the announcement show the driver taking part, albeit not while the car is actually moving.
The feature is now available in the Audi A5, Q5, A6, A6 e-tron, and Q6 e-tron model series equipped with Android-based infotainment systems, in all markets where Audi operates. Utilizing your own smartphone as a controller, you can enjoy yourself with a specially tailored car version (a true mobile game…sorry) of Pictionary: Car Party, from Mattel. Up to four players can connect and while away the time while the designated driver tries to drown out shouts of, “Is it a sausage?” while doing a steady 70mph.
Erika Winterholler, Head of Business Development, Digital Gaming at Mattel, said: “We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with AirConsole and work with the team at Audi to bring Pictionary™ Car Party! to Audi’s infotainment systems. This collaboration is a game-changer, letting non-driving passengers join in on fun, interactive play using their smartphones. Most importantly, the front passenger can safely control the game without distracting the driver, ensuring that entertainment and safety go hand in hand. This is the future of social gaming on the move, making every journey more enjoyable.”
Beyond Pictionary, the AirConsole catalog will be regularly updated but currently features an additional 13 games, including Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Overcooked, and Uno: Car Party. AirConsole is available through the Audi Application Store and all you need to do is boot up the game and scan the QR code with the phones of people who want to play, and you are in.
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Dead by Daylight has gone from strength to strength, bucking the ongoing trend of live-service games getting ignominiously shut down. This asymmetrical multiplayer slashers vs survivors game has just launched its fourth and final Twisted Masquerade online event, and its Steam player count has soared to new heights.
While Dead by Daylight was never in danger of being shut down, thanks to a solid player base, this multiplayer horror game has seen a major uptick in its fortunes.
The release of DbD’s new Five Nights at Freddy’s content saw its concurrent Steam player count hit its highest peak in four years. The update added Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria as a new map, alongside new killer Springtrap, as seen in the FNAF movie. The image of a maskless Matthew Lillard screaming in survivors’ faces has entered memedom, which won’t have done the game’s popularity any harm.
Now, Dead by Daylight’s Twisted Masquerade event has returned for the fourth and final year, raising DbD’s popularity to even greater heights. This event, which allows players to earn fanciful masks and weapons, has pushed its concurrent player count has hit 120,717. That’s an all-time record and a poke in the eye for rival Evil Dead: The Game which was delisted earlier this year.
The event is currently live and runs until Thursday, July 17, 2025, at 8am PDT / 11am EDT / 4pm BST. If you’re wondering what cosmetics are on offer, we’ve got you covered with all the details of DbD’s Twisted Masquerade. But, remember, this is your last chance to get your hands on them.
Why is Dead by Daylight so popular? It has a lot to do with the sheer wealth of killers and survivors on offer. We’ve ranked all 39 of DbD’s killers, and new menaces are added all the time. But while there are plenty of original characters in the game, dreamed up by developer Behaviour Interactive, there are a huge number of ‘celebrity’ killers too.
Not all these famous slashers are available to buy right now, but the crossover factor is just mindblowing. This is a game where you can have the Xenomorph from Alien chasing down Nicolas Cage while Resident Evil’s Leon Kennedy takes on Chucky. And while the Evil Dead game may be gone, Ash Williams lives on as a guest survivor. It’s all our horror fan fiction fantasies come to life – what’s not to love?
Do you want free stuff in Dead by Daylight? Of course you do, which is why we’ve got the latest DbD codes and DbD Twitch drops.
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May 28: Thanks to Forever Entertainment and MegaPixel Studio, we’ve got the release date for Front Mission 3: Remake. The Nintendo Switch game launches on June 26, 2025. This finally wraps up Forever Entertainment’s remakes for the series. Technically there are additional entries in the franchise, but as of now, no additional re-releases have been announced. Here’s an overview of…
Published: Jul 12, 2025 06:31 am