With the release of TopSpin 2K25, however, Take-Two Interactive seems to be dead set on expanding its offerings in the world of sport games. The title, developed by Hangar 13, is a revival of sorts of the classic Top Spin franchise, and as such, focuses more on the simulation side of things.

The gameplay in TopSpin 2K25 isn’t particularly complicated; you take part in either singles or doubles tennis matches, pick your athlete, and duke it out on the court of your choice. Things get more complex once you start diving deeper into the mechanics. Since there’s an emphasis on offering some level of simulation, the surface of your chosen tennis court will have an effect on the different shots you can play. And even the shots themselves have plenty of tactical options, depending on whether you want to hit hard or with precision.

"TopSpin 2K25 gives you five different shot types to use, depending on what button you press, and these range from simple fast shots, spin shots, slices, and a lob."

TopSpin 2K25 does a fantastic job of being an excellent casual game. You don’t really have to do much more than hitting the right shot button at the right time while you’re standing at the right place to start having fun. From a newcomer’s perspective, a typical tennis match in the game actually tends to bear a striking resemblance to the constant tug-and-pull format of a fighting game. Like in Street Fighter, both you and your opponent are often looking for openings to use fancier shot types like the eponymous top spin or the lob, and will often try and use positioning to try and bait the other player into the wrong position.

TopSpin 2K25 gives you five different shot types to use, depending on what button you press, and these range from simple fast shots, spin shots, slices, and a lob. Coupled with these shot types are two more modifiers that trigger depending on exactly when you hit the button; aimed shot and power shot. Press the button with more precise timings and you get a precision shot headed to exactly where you want, while holding the button down for longer before the ball gets to you gets you a faster power shot.

Playing TopSpin 2K25 in general exhibitions tends to be an incredibly fun time, and even just playing with the AI on progressively harder difficulties can be plenty of fun. However, as you start climbing up the ranks and facing harder opponents, some of the control scheme’s more frustrating aspects tend to show up. Since both precision shots and power shots are bound by how long you pressed the button, it gets really difficult to actually use the kind of shot you might have wanted. The game also has a strange tendency to sometimes ignore what you’re trying to do, and your chosen tennis star will sometimes just give up on a shot that they could have easily made.

"As you start climbing up the ranks and facing harder opponents, some of the control scheme’s more frustrating aspects tend to show up."

These issues tend to put a damper on trying to play TopSpin 2K25 with any amount of seriousness. For more casual play, however, TopSpin 2K25 easily takes the cake over its contemporaries. The only true tennis game that can really hold a candle to the amount of fun offered up by TopSpin 2K25 might be Mario Tennis Aces, and even that’s largely because the latter tends to have crazier gameplay. Pure tennis aficionados will have trouble finding anything better out there.

When it comes to game modes, TopSpin 2K25 comes with the usual modes you might expect: singles, doubles, a tutorial mode, the MyPlayer career mode, and an online mode. Of these, MyPlayer is the mode with the most meat to it when it comes to sheer amount of content. The mode has you create your very own tennis player who is kicking off their career, first by taking part in more local events before eventually hopping into major events like the Australian Open to go toe to toe with legends in the sport. The mode offers up a fair bit of variety by mixing in different training sessions and special events—each with unique victory conditions and modifiers—before letting you hop into proper matches. Along the way, your created tennis player will get experience to level up, allowing you to raise your various stats in an RPG-inspired system.

The MyCareer mode doesn’t really have much of a narrative to string you along from event to event. Unlike the MyRise mode in the WWE 2K games, MyCareer in TopSpin 2K25 is strictly there for players who love the sport. You won’t really be finding absurd storylines, or even something akin to a sports movie like you would in the F1 games.

"The MyCareer mode doesn’t really have much of a narrative to string you along from event to event."

The tutorial mode, dubbed the TopSpin Academy, is also a fantastic addition to TopSpin 2K25. The mode basically teaches you just about every gameplay mechanic there is in the game, all with the narration and guidance of tennis legend John McEnroe. The tutorial is split up into basic, intermediate, and advanced techniques, and even shows you gameplay videos of the techniques you’re meant to be learning throughout the mode.

Of course, all of the fun in playing TopSpin 2K25 comes across thanks in large part to the split-second accuracy afforded by the game running at a stable frame rate of 60FPS. While playing the title on the PS5, I never experienced any hitches to the frame rates, and inputs were never dropped. The flip side of the smooth frame rate is that TopSpin 2K25 isn’t exactly the prettiest sports game out there. That isn’t to say that it’s ugly by any stretch; it just doesn’t have the visual fidelity that is often associated with sports titles like Take-Two’s own NBA 2K and WWE 2K series. The models of the athletes feel rather flat, and while animations are phenomenal throughout, some of the finer details of the tennis stars you’re playing as, like free-flowing hair, aren’t really there.

All in all, TopSpin 2K25 feels like a rather return to the world of Tennis for Take-Two. While higher-level play tends to offer plenty of frustration, especially in how some of the controls are laid out, more casual players and tennis fans will find plenty to love. The game features a fantastic roster with a decent mix of legends and current players, as well as the ability to create your very own tennis superstar. Who doesn’t want to go toe-to-toe with legends in the sport like Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, or Serena Williams, after all? All of this is paired with a career mode that, while a bit dull since it doesn’t really have a story to follow, is at least filled with quite a bit of content.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

However, before we actually start talking about the gameplay, I do have to mention that Phantom Fury is one of the most unique looking shooters out there. While not exactly making use of the largest poly-count models, Phantom Fury definitely manages to have a distinct aesthetic that melds old-school sensibilities with more modern technologies and ideas. An early example of this is shortly after starting the game where you can see the use of some translucent sheets in medical rooms—something you wouldn’t really see in older titles owing to a lack of computing horsepower.

"Coming to the gameplay, Phantom Fury feels like it’s taking inspiration from a bunch of different 90s-era shooters, from Half-Life to Quake, and even a bit of System Shock here and there."

At the same time, Phantom Fury also opts for low-fi textures that have really been catching on. While several games have used it since, Nightdive Studios’ System Shock remake is really what put the aesthetic style on the map, and much like with the remake, Phantom Fury also makes excellent use of its textures coupled with impressive lighting techniques to give off an appearance of a game that looks like what you remember old-school shooters like Quake looked like.

Coming to the gameplay, Phantom Fury feels like it’s taking inspiration from a bunch of different 90s-era shooters, from Half-Life to Quake, and even a bit of System Shock here and there. Much like any other boomer shooter you might have come across, most of the time, Phantom Fury is going to have you running around like an insane person shooting and blowing up just about everything in sight. Rather than making use of more abstract level designs like we’ve seen from Quake-inspired shooters, however, Phantom Fury instead has more of a narrative string tying its levels together.

You’re not really going to be finding floating platforms in gothic castles where you fight off demons and ghosts with a sword and shotgun. Instead, Phantom Fury has a narrative tying things together, taking you from level to level. Picking up many years after the events of Ion Fury, Phantom Fury once again puts players in the shoes of Shelly Harrison as she fights her way throughout the USA. The game makes no excuses about being a bombastic, over-the-top pastiche of classic action movies, ranging from references to First Blood to Terminator. This movie reference-fueled rampage is coupled with an irreverent tone where the game never really expects the player to take anything seriously, despite just about every character being deathly afraid of the threats posed to mankind’s future.

"You’re not really going to be finding floating platforms in gothic castles where you fight off demons and ghosts with a sword and shotgun."

While the story is still ultimately just an excuse to take you from level to level, Phantom Fury goes a bit deeper than other boomer shooters typically would, featuring full-on action set pieces where, for example, you’re tasked with keeping a guy alive as he fixes his truck so that you can escape from an ever-advancing horde of enemies. There are also a few narrative threads looming in the background that ultimately get paid off, like Harrison’s new bionic arm, and even the nature of the shady corporation that’s seemingly involved with the hunt for the legendary Demon Core.

Of course, the true star of the Phantom Fury is the arsenal of weapons you get access to throughout your journey across America. While most weapons, especially early on, largely stick to classic archetypal weapons like pistols and shotguns, the game very quickly starts getting freaky with some of the weapons it gives you. An early example of this is the Bowling Bomb; a type of grenade which is meant to be rolled on the ground towards its target. While it might seem rather mundane, it’s worth noting that Bowling Bombs have a tendency of ricocheting off walls and surfaces, and even jumping off tiny ramps on the ground, depending on the strength with which you threw it. Future weapons get weirder still, like an electrified foam shooter. The arsenal is also helped tremendously by the fact that just about every weapon has some sort of hidden capabilities that can be unlocked through upgrades and mods.

Freedom is a big feature of Phantom Fury, not only in how you deal with the hordes of enemies you end up fighting, but also how you go about finishing levels. While most levels are largely linear affairs with obvious paths through obstacles, some of them give you options in how you might want to deal with things, be it through peaceful means by making use of subterfuge—which essentially boils down to not just kicking down the doors of a bar and blindly shooting everyone in sight—to going ham with your biggest weapons. The game also makes use of simple physics allowing you to pick up and throw around any random item you might find, to having you figure out electrical lines so that you can blow up the right fuse box to solve a puzzle.

"While most weapons, especially early on, largely stick to classic archetypal weapons like pistols and shotguns, the game very quickly starts getting freaky with some of the weapons it gives you."

Along with regular running and gunning, there is also plenty of variety in Phantom Fury’s mission design, with some missions giving you access to more outlandish vehicles, ranging from a weapon-equipped truck that you can drive through an enemy-infested town, to a Top Gun-inspired jet fighter sequence where you have to pilot a chopper while also dodging fire from jet fighters, as well as the falling debris as you fly through a canyon.

Phantom Fury doesn’t really make any excuses about the kind of game it is. It gives you a gun, a fancy bionic arm, tells you who the enemies are, and expects you to get the job done. What makes this job fun, however, is the wonderful arsenal of weapons thrown at you, as well as the outlandish writing and downright absurd story throughout what is essentially a violent rampage across America. Sure, there may not be much of a story in Phantom Fury, but what is there is a lot of fun, especially if you happen to be a fan of old-school 80s and 90s action movies.

Couple the excellent gameplay with some downright fantastic art direction that makes use of classical-inspired aesthetics fused with more modern technologies, lighting and level design, and Phantom Fury ends up feeling like one of the more refined boomer shooters out there. While it’s not as abstract and insane as something like Dusk, and it certainly won’t push you to your limits like Ultrakill might, Phantom Fury is definitely worth your attention because, ultimately, it just happens to be a roaring good time.

This game was reviewed on PC.

The goal of the new ecosystem is to allow for a more open platform for other software and hardware developers to start making things in Meta’s new VR offerings. The new ecosystem also allows for users to be able to carry their identities, avatars, and friend groups across virtual spaces.

As part of the new ecosystem, Meta is teaming up with Asus ROG to develop a new high-performance gaming headset. The company is also teaming up with Lenovo for new mixed-reality devices that will focus more on the non-gaming side of things. And finally, Meta is teaming up with Xbox for a new limited edition Xbox-inspired Meta Quest headset.

How these new headsets will pan out in the long term is yet to be seen, but Asus is riding high off the success of its foray into an emerging section of gaming hardware market with the Asus ROG Ally.

Homeworld: Vast Reaches will put players in the shoes of a human commander controlling a fleet of spaceships. Owing to it being a VR title, Homeworld: Vast Reaches will seemingly place a special emphasis on the size and scale of the massive sea battles that the Homeworld series of RTS games is famous for.

The game was originally announced earlier this month. Its story is set to be a spin-off, and it is currently unclear whether it will connect to the original Homeworld titles, or the upcoming Homeworld 3 in any way. The game will, however, offer players fine control over the positioning and tactics of their space fleets. Players will also be able to choose to scale the battles up or down, allowing them to pick between table-top battles or massive room-scale wars.

The next mainline entry in the Homeworld franchise, Homeworld 3, is currently still in development, and is coming to PC on May 13.

An expanded version of the 2017 arcade game of the same name by developer Raw Thrills, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants features solo play, as well as local co-op action for up to four players together on all platforms. The game is based on the more modern incarnation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by Nickelodeon.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants features six stages and 13 different boss battles. This includes three new stages and six new boss battles that weren’t originally in the arcade title. Players will be able to take on the roles of any of the four turtles, and can use their special super attacks to take on hordes of enemies.

The 6-minute-long trailer gives us a great look at some of the moves and combos that will be available to Illaoi for the first 50 seconds, before switching to narration by game designer Caroline Montano, who goes in-depth in describing the character.

According to Montano, Illaoi is meant to be a heavy-hitting juggernaut of a character, who focuses on overwhelming her opponents by applying continuous pressure with high-damage moves and combos. On finding an opening, Illaoi can make use of her tentacle moves to lock her opponents down.

The character’s core mechanics revolve around summoning and activating spirit tentacles by using her S2 specials. S1 specials, on the other hand, trigger follow-up attacks by the tentacles. Montano does reiterate that, despite her use of tentacles, Illaoi is not meant to be a puppet character.

Illaoi will be one of the characters available to play in the early build of 2XKO that will be playable at Evo 2024, alongside Ekko, Ahri, Darius, and Yasuo. 2XKO is slated for release in 2025, and will be coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

The Fall of Avalon update brings the much awaited third chapter to Ravenswatch, taking players to a new zone populated with new enemies, events, and boss fights. Featuring a more urban setting, the city of Avalon will have players take on witches, wolves, knights, and gargoyles.

Along with the new chapter, the update also brings with it new playing modes through the addition of Challenges, a new themed quest about the Headless Horseman, the ability to gain more talents and powers by going up to level 10 and beyond, and the upgrades to Ultimate abilities, among other features. Check out the full patch notes for the Fall of Avalon update below.

Ravenswatch is currently available as an early access title on PC. The game’s next major update will be its 1.0 release, and will bring with it the game’s final boss, as well as a new playable hero. This update is slated for Q3 2024.

Ravenswatch: The Fall of Avalon patch notes:

• New Chapter – Avalon:

  + A new map in a new location! The gates of Avalon are opening, make your way into the abandoned castle and defeat the Nigthmare’s invasion!
  + After Chapter Two, continue your journey to Chapter Three, allowing you to reach level 10 (and beyond!)
  + Runs are now 60+ minutes long with the addition of Chapter Three
  + 1 new themed quest: Help Morgan defeat the Headless Horseman (Dullahan)
  + 10+ new enemies:

  • Wolves: Timber Wolf, Dire Wolf, Alpha Wolf
  • Gargoyles: Bestial Gargoyle, Fire Gargoyle, Blood Gargoyle
  • Witches: Young Witch, Crone Witch, Broom Witch
  • Knights: Sword Knight, Spear Knight, Mage Knight
  • Skeletons

  + 1 new Mini-boss challenge: Boss Coven
  + 1 new Master Nightmare: Claws Master Nightmare

• Custom Game Modes:
  + Create customizable runs with selectable positive or negative modifiers
  + Increase or decrease the difficulty of runs with modifiers
  + A score modifier is applied to reflect your choice of modifiers
  + 11 Positive modifiers: No timer mode, Play a single random Chapter, Quick Dash cooldown… and more.
  + 11 Negative modifiers: No Mini-Map, Healing Fountains are empty, No Raven feathers available… and more.
• Challenges:

  5 pre-made Challenges available
  + Untouchable
  + Black Moon
  + Power of the Sun
  + Adrenaline
  + Terra Incognita

• Rerolls:
  + Stars of Fate will let you reroll Talents, Magical Objects as well as Rewards at the Grimoires and Wishing Well
  + You get 3 Stars of Fate at the start of a run, pictured by a shooting star ☄ symbol
  + More Stars of Fate can be obtained during a run

• General:

  + Upgrade your Ultimate Abilities with final Talents, now available!
  + All four Starting Talents are now available to choose from at the start of a run
  + Reach Level 10+ in runs. Levels beyond 10 continue to scale Attack damage and Health points
  + Dash UI has been reworked to welcome the possibility of having multiple charges. When an arrow (or multiple arrows) is displayed, a Dash is available.

• Scarlet:

  + 2 final Talents:

  • Fiery Maw
  • Bone Cracker

  + 1 new standard Talent:

  • Evisceration

  + Adjustments:

  • ‘Savagery’ timer is now frozen during the Trait passive transformation
  • ‘Fan of Spikes’ will now only trigger when Scarlet is in combat
  • Transformation with ‘Shapeshifter’ Talent now grants an Intangibility window instead of an Invincibility window
• The Pied Piper:

  + 2 final Talents:

  • Jig
  • Vermin Massacre

  + 1 new standard Talent:

  • Sforzando

  + Adjustments:

  • Reviewed ‘Invasive Blast’ Talent, it now spawns a given amount of rats if Defense hits at least one enemy
  • ‘Ghost Notes’ now ignore scenery collisions before exploding
• Beowulf:

  + 2 final Talents:

  • Immolation
  • Volcanic Rage

  + 1 new standard Talent:

  • Breath of Fire

  + Adjustments:

  • ‘Sparkling Shield’ reflects damage reduced to 120%/150%180%/210% (from 200%/250%/300%/350%)
  • Fixed ‘Scorched Earth’: damage is now properly scaled with power damage
• Snow Queen:

  + 2 final Talents:

  • Royal Ray
  • Rending Storm

  + 1 new standard Talent:

  • Snowball

  + Adjustments:

  • ‘Freezing Stars’ now detonate (instead of vanish) when their lifetime expires. Reduced lifetime to 10s (from 15s)
  • Fixed Defense, it now correctly applies damage multiple times to the same target, even if the Snow Queen stays within the enemy hurtbox
  • Fixed ‘Protective Crow’ and ‘Ice Shield’ Shields that would override themselves
• Aladdin:

  + 2 final Talents:

  • Wondrous Wishes
  • Dream Stride

  + 1 new standard Talent:

  • Shard Blades

  + Adjustments:

  • ‘Jinniya’s Gift’: changed formula for chances to get better talents, it is now more effective and accurate
  • ‘Dream Scimitars’ doesn’t proc anymore during Master Nightmare fights
  • Consumables dropped from Special Wishes now offer a choice between 2 (instead of 3)
  • Fix: ‘Air Dash’ can now properly be chained without any cooldown between two
• Melusine:

  + 2 final Talents:

  • Vortex Bomb
  • Crescendo

  + 1 new standard Talent:

  • Water Bubble
• Geppetto:

  + 2 final Talents:

  • Bomb Reverse
  • High Voltage

  + 1 new standard Talent:

  • Explosive Builds

  + Adjustments:

  • ‘Lightning Rod Dummies’ now triggers lightning strikes after 2-2.5s (instead of 0.5-1s). Base damage set to 28 (from 20)
  • Magical Object drops generated from ‘Flash of Genius’ now offer choice among 2 objects (instead of no choice)
  • Slightly reduced recovery time of ‘Nailing Strike’s last attack
• Sun Wukong:

  + 2 final Talents:

  • Army of Monkeys
  • Perfect Copy

  + 1 new standard Talent:

  • Ōm

• General:

  + Super Effects: Magical Objects now have a ‘Super Effects’ that can be triggered if a collection is complete. A collection is a specific number of identical Magical Objects found in your Inventory.

  • Common: 5 identical Magical Objects for a complete collection
  • Rare: 4 identical Magical Objects for a complete collection
  • Epic: 3 identical Magical Objects for a complete collection
  • Legendary/Cursed: Don’t have a ‘Super Effect’ as they are unique

  + Meta: Magical Objects are now all unlocked by default, and are not part of the meta progression. Effects and Super Effects are hidden until equipped or discovered during a game

• New Magical Objects:
  + Leprechaun Coin (Common)
  + Green Armor (Common)
  + Queen of Hearts Card (Rare)
  + Charmstone (Epic)
  + Holy Grail (Legendary)
  + Raven Effigy (Legendary)
  + Ring of Dispel (Legendary)
  + Hungry Grass (Cursed)
  + Fast-Walker Boots (Cursed)
  + Balor’s Eye (Cursed)
• New Effects:

  + Goldilocks’ Porridge: Healing Orbs grant STRENGTH for 4 seconds
  + Fairy Dust: When taking damage, gain 15 SHIELD (Max. every 30 seconds)
  + Eternal Rose: After DASH, gain +10% Crit Chance for 2 seconds
  + Golden Egg: Each time Dream Shards are consumed, gain DMG +1
  + Oni Mask: DMG +20 for each cursed magical object, VITALITY -10 for each legendary magical object
  + Baba Yaga’s Mortar: Warns of lethal damage and restores all health instead (only works once)
  + Mad Hat: Taking damage earns 10% of their value as Dream Shards
  + Bloody Mary’s Mirror: DMG now counts as ARMOR and vice versa
  + Cauldron of Dyrnwch: VITALITY +100, all healings are reduced by 50%

• Removed Magical Object:

  + Little Thumb Pebbles

• Adjustments:

  + Voodoo Doll: Extra damage to boss reduced to 10% (from 20%)
  + Tamatebako: now also grants 3 Stars of Fate (rerolls)
  + Water of Life: now also grants +25 VITALITY
  + Witch Broom: extra damage taken reduced to 25% (from 50%)

• Rewards and Economy:

  + The Sandman:

  • ‘Consumables’ have been replaced by ‘Dreams’, a new Reward type only available at the Sandman’s Shop
  • 10 Dreams are available:
    • Star Fragment
    • Sand of oblivion
    • Dream of power
    • Dream of invulnerability
    • Rapid Shaping
    • Minor Shaping
    • Major Shaping
    • Sand of Knowledge
    • Grandiose Shaping
    • Stand of Enlightenment
  • Legendary and Cursed Magical Objects can be found at the Sandman’s Shop
  • Prices for upgrading Talents have been adjusted to match the new progression with Chapter 3 and the adjustments on the economy of the game

  +Grimoires of Monsters:

  • Grimoires now offer flat stats or rewards instead of the 3 same offers
  • Offers are still scaled with the difficulty of the Grimoire (Green, Orange or Red):
    • Health chapter: +X VITALITY
    • War chapter: +X DMG
    • Protection chapter: +X ARMOR
    • Luck chapter: +X CRIT CHANCE
    • Anatomy chapter: +X CRIT DAMAGE
    • Astronomy chapter: +X REROLLS
    • Dream chapter: +X DREAM SHARDS

  +Dream Crystals: Small and Medium Dream Crystals found in between Camps and Activities now drop more Dream Shards to increase their attractiveness
  +Enemies:

  • Gnolls: Shielded Gnolls now properly deal extra damage when corrupted or under a Strength effect
  • Mini-Boss stagger: In multiplay only, increased the stagger bar on mini-bosses so they’re not so easy to stun and a bit more resistant (no changes in solo)
  • Status: Negative statuses on enemies are now displayed above their health bars (Chilled, Weakened, Ignited…)
  • Enraged: The enraged effect on Master Nightmare is now displayed on their Health Bar.

• General performance improvements
• Improved Network Stability (some issues remain and will be our next priority. Please reach out on the Steam forums or Discord if you’re encountering specific problems)

• Fixed a crash that occurred when accepting a Game invitation on Steam during the loading screen
• Fixed a crash that occurred with Beowulf and ‘Sparkling Shield” against the Faceless Master Nightmare

• Fixed an issue where a Cursed Magical Object could be collected multiple times
• Fixed the intangible Roc Birds
• Fixed an issue where the timer was not the same between players
• Fixed an issue where a Host player who died in the Altar of Heroes was not redirected to the defeat screen if another player abandoned the run
• Other minor fixes

PowerWash Simulator was first released as an early access title back in May 2021. Since then, the game has been released on various other platforms, and has seen the release of DLCs that took players from Lara Croft’s manor to Bikini Bottom, and even Final Fantasy 7‘s Midgar.

“We are continuously in awe of the impact our game has made on people,” said FuturLab CEO Kristy Rigden. “Now with a staggering 12 million players, it’s clear that there’s a desire for games like PowerWash Simulator that provide a soothing sense of satisfaction – and we intend to make them!”

Most recently, PowerWash Simulator saw the release of the Warhammer 40,000 Special Pack, which brought with it quite a few new things for players to clean, including an Ultramarines Land Raider, and a Dark Angels Redemptor Dreadnought.

The game has also seen a release away from flat screens, coming to Meta Quest 2, 3, and Pro headsets back in November 2023.

Along with the base game, both expansions for Dead Island 2, including the recently-released SoLA DLC, along with the previous Haus DLC, are also available on Steam, along with other releases like weapon packs and cosmetic packs. Celebrating the game’s Steam release, developer Dambuster Studios and publisher Deep Silver have also released a new trailer, which you can check out below.

Dead Island 2‘s most recent expansion, SoLA, was released just last week. Taking place at the eponymous music festival, players must stop the Beat of the Autophage, killing many undead hordes in the process. The DLC also brought with it new Apex Zombies, like the Whipper and Clotter.

Dead Island 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Yoshida goes quite in-depth about the game’s new graphical update, revealing that while Final Fantasy 14 will be getting a graphical upgrade with the release of Dawntrail, the development team overlooked updating the character creation environment in the benchmark software, instead prioritisng the development of the expansion itself.

The appearance of characters having “lifeless” eyes, according to Yoshida, comes down to a lack of highlights in the pupils, facial contours appearing flattened due to incorrect lighting conditions, and a lack of gloss or excessive gloss due to weather conditions.

“The special conditions created for the existing character creation system are largely responsible for the points outlined above,” says Yoshida in the post. “Changing these settings should greatly improve the situation, and I would appreciate it if you could bear with us as we work on updating the benchmark.”

The benchmark software’s replacement will also be focusing on other aspects of performance problems, including high-resolution textures for certain playable races, issues with uncorrected scaling for different characters’ mouths, and issues pertaining to special data processes.

The next version of the Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail benchmark doesn’t yet have a release date. The expansion itself is slated for release on July 2, with pre-orders getting early access on June 28.