The team at Kylotonn has designed Galeao Track to test your driving skills, working alongside professional racers in Brazil, where the fictional track is located. It features quite a few tough corners and turns, but we’re certain that racing fans are up to the task. Of course, you must fulfil the roles of both a driver and an engineer, managing your ride as well as you drive it to stay at the top of your game.

Endurance Motorsport Series is slated to bring a bunch of game modes and a lot of fast vehicles, from Hypercars to LMP2, to try them out with, and could be quite welcoming if you aren’t a hardcore racing fan.

The trailer for the new track is cool and all, but it’s rather scarce on important information like a release date for the game, which remains an elusive secret (aside from “Summer”). It’s open for wishlisting on your platform of choice, though, so that’s a bit of a win. Endurance Motorsport Series will be available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

The teaser includes a host of games made by studios owned by Nacon, including The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu, Edge of Memories, Endurance Motorsport Series, and Hunter: The Reckoning – Deathwish. The showcase will bring with it a host of new trailers, and many titles will also likely get release dates.

A couple of month after the showcase, The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu will be coming out on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on July 15th. Hunter: The Reckoning – Deathwish is slated for a Summer 2027 release, however, and is unlikely to get a solid release date just yet. The title was unveiled last month with a trailer.

In February, Nacon had announced that it was filing for insolvency, leading to the trading of its shares on the Euronext Paris markets being suspended. The company said in a press release that it needed a “rapid implementation of a financial restructuring,” and noted that it didn’t have enough available assets that could be used to pay its debts off in a timely manner.

Following the announcement, a report indicated that the company had put a pause on paying employees working at Cyanide Studios, Spiders, and Kylotonn. An estimated 320 employees had been seemingly affected by this decision.

This, in turn, had led to the French game industry union—Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Video—to call the company out for making decisions that would lead to its studios also needing to file for insolvency.

“Years of mismanagement and strategic nothingness, both at the group and company levels, have blocked studios from modernizing, organizing, and developing themselves,” said the union in a statement. “Today, even after completely emptying its studios’ coffers – dozens of millions of euros which should have ensured studio stability and safe jobs! – Nacon comes out with a deficit.”

“Makeshift solutions like canceling all recruitments and raises for more than a year, or snake oil solutions like ‘AI,’ which Nacon is gradually forcing on its studios without even knowing what for, will not save money and clean up the company accounts. The deterioration of working conditions in the last years, and the creation of new studios with the barely hidden goal of sabotaging existing ones, were already convoluted ways of reducing headcount, and they only made matters worse.”

Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Video went as far as to call for the removal of Nacon’s executive team from their leadership positions. The union has also demanded better working conditions, a policy put in place to prevent more talent drain across studios, and updated tools and processes to aid developers with their work.

Chief among the affected studios has been Spiders, which recently released its RPG GreedFall: The Dying World. In March, Nacon had announced that it was looking to sell Spiders and that the studio had been told that a bidding process for its acquisition had begun.

That includes gameplay for not one but two cosmic horror titles – Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss and The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu. There’s also Edge of Memories, a new action RPG from the team behind Edge of Eternity, and Endurance Motorsport Series from KT Racing, which is all about long, grueling races in a professional setting.

Of course, the publisher also says there are “game announcements,” so there may be even more to see beyond the current slate. We may see more details for GreedFall: The Dying World, which exits early access on March 12th for PC alongside Xbox Series X/S and PS5. While its base version didn’t exactly set our world on fire, the RPG has seen numerous updates and improvements.

Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is the next big release, arriving on April 16th for the same platforms. Set in 2053, the story focuses on Noah, who ventures into the underwater city of R’lyeh to search for some missing miners. As you’d expect, he discovers something that will test the limits of his sanity.

PS4 offerings will also see expansion, with the addition of Monster Hunter Stories (PS4) and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin (PS4) just a month before the release of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection. Other games coming to the subscription service are racing game Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown (PS5), narrative action adventure games Neva (PS5) and Season: A Letter to the Future (PS4, PS5), indie title Venba (PS5), and sports game Rugby 25 (PS4, PS5). These games will be available for PlayStation Extra and Premium tier subscribers. The PlayStation Classics catalog will see the addition of Disney Pixar Wall-E (PS4, PS5), which was originally released on PS2 in 2008.

Along with this, Sony has also confirmed new additions to its PlayStation Plus Classics catalog for next month. The line-up, only available to Premium tier subscribers, includes PSP fighting game Tekken Dark Resurrection, and PlayStation classic rail shooter Time Crisis, as caught by Gematsu.

This announcement comes just a few days after rumors first popped up of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 coming to the subscription service. The 2023 action-adventure title revolves around Peter Parker and Miles Morales taking on a host of new foes from Spider-Man’s rogues’ gallery. A key element of the story is the presence of the Symbiote.

While Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 coming to the service makes sense given its 2023 release date, Monster Hunter Stories and its sequel coming to PlayStation Plus is especially interesting since the third game in the turn-based RPG franchise is slated for release on March 13th.

While the Stories series has largely focused on telling their own standalone stories (no pun intended), they tend to have a throughline in the form of their combat systems that blend the traditional Monster Hunter gameplay loop with turn-based action with an emphasis on befriending monsters as well as fighting them.

For those looking to check out Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection before release, a demo was released earlier this month offering some early-game sections. Capcom has also confirmed that players will be able to carry over their progress into the full game when it finally comes out.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection also got a trailer earlier this week, offering an overview of the story and the history of the Riders. The trailer features narration by Elizabeth Rose Bloodblame of Hololive English, and focuses quite a bit on the bonds between Riders and their Monsties (Monster Besties). Along with the wide roster of monsters that the series is known for, Stories 3 will also feature newer ones from Monster Hunter Wilds, like Rey Dau and Arkveld. Among the returning monsters, Monster Hunters 2‘s Yama Tsukami has also been confirmed for the game.

Released in 2023, the sequel follows both Peter Parker and Miles Morales as they battle various new threats, including the Symbiote and Venom. The former eventually falls victim to its influence, resulting in new powers and a much more vicious attitude. You can also look forward to new abilities, collectibles, and activities alongside fresh locations. With over 11 million copies sold, this would be a great deal for anyone who hasn’t already dived in.

Other notable releases supposedly include Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown, an open-world racer from KT Racing. Despite facing middling reviews at launch, it’s been updated with several new features and content. Believe it or not, it’s currently in the middle of Season 5, which added several new vehicles, car resale, and taxi missions to the Contracts.

There’s also Neva from Nomada Studio (of Gris fame), which will reportedly be available for PS4 and PS5 players. Check out our review for the title, which offers a narratively rich and aesthetically gorgeous side-scrolling adventure.

Other titles are bound to be announced though, including more PlayStation Classics for Premium subscribers, so stay tuned for the official announcement.

Nacon and developer KT Racing developed over half a dozen WRC titles before the license was obtained by Codemasters, and Nacon now says it has acquired exclusive rights once again, running from 2027 to 2032. The publisher says its next WRC title will be a “complete reboot” of the franchise and will be “based on an entirely fresh vision.”

“We are thrilled to renew our collaboration with WRC Promoter. This iconic license provides an exceptional playground to build a highly refined driving experience that lives up to the expectations of rally fans,” said Alain Falc, CEO of Nacon. “Between 2015 and 2023, we had the opportunity to work closely with the championship’s official teams and many drivers, allowing us to gain solid and unique expertise in translating rallying into a video game experience. This new venture marks a major milestone: a fully reimagined project driven by a passionate and specialized team, with a clear ambition to elevate rally games to new heights.”

“After a comprehensive evaluation, we are delighted to have reached an agreement with Nacon,” expressed FIA World Rally Championship’s Chief Marketing Officer Arne Dirks. “Their vision for the franchise stands out, and their expertise in delivering great rally games is unquestioned.  We look forward to breaking new ground together in this collaboration, to truly turn the WRC games into epic adventures and offer gaming experiences beyond rally as we know it today.”

When we can expect a formal announcement of the game or our first look at gameplay remains to be seen, but it seems like we can assume 2027 is the year that Nacon is targeting for the first title’s release.

The trailer kicks things off by revealing that the Clan Wars game mode that was originally planned to be released alongside season 3 is instead being postponed. Rather than Clan Wars, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is getting a host of features based on the feedback the studio got from its players.

One of the biggest new additions to the game is the ability to have solo races against AI opponents. This mode includes the ability to instantly restart the race, and even offers adaptive rewards based on the difficulty of AI the player chooses. There are AI difficulty options, ranging from Novice, offering no bonus rewards, all the way up to Expert, which offers 40 percent additional rewards.

Customisation is also getting an upgrade with the release of new license plate options for players to choose and edit.

Along with this, season 3 of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown will also bring with it three new cars: the Aston Martin Valour, the DeLorean DMC-12, and the Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta. The main reward from season 1’s ranked mode, the Pininfarina Battista, will also be available to more players through the luxury car dealership.

Among the new game modes coming to Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is the new Navigation Mode. Through this mode, players can set a point on the map as their target location, and carve out their own race course to get to it. Players can compete with each other on the same route, with the winner being the player with the best time.

There will also be new weekly live events, including one celebrating a decade of McLaren 570s, as well as events revolving around legendary classic cars, and even one for players that enjoy 6 cylinder engines.

Capping things off is a new Solar Pass that players can progress through for up to 50 levels. This Solar Pass will be available for free to all Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown players. Convoy Missions will also be returning with season 3, with the trailer showing off a car delivery for a Koenigsegg Agera RS (2015).

Season 3 of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown will be going live on March 19, and will arrive in the form of a free update for all players across PC and consoles.

The last major update for Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown was season 2 back in December. The update brought with it a new open world map that was a 1:1 recreation of Ibiza, as well as new cars.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Check out our review for more details. You can also check out 14 of the biggest differences between Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown and its predecessor, Test Drive Unlimited 2.

Taking to Twitter, Nacon announced that Season 2 of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown will be kicking off on December 11. As we’ve known since before the game came out, chief among Season 2’s additions will be an entirely new open world map in the form of a 1:1 recreation of the island of Ibiza, which was also featured in Test Drive Unlimited 2. 

Beyond that, the new season will also bring new cars, a Solar Pass (which, yes, is a battle pass) with new rewards to unlock, and additional clan progression levels for players to work through. That means the first season’s Solar Pass will be expiring on December 10.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC.

🚨 Ibiza & Season 2 are coming to Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown on December 11th!

☀️ Solar Pass #1 progression ends on December 10th—get ready for an all-new set of rewards with Season 2!

🏖️ Discover Ibiza, a free map, new cars, clan progression levels, a new Solar Pass, and… pic.twitter.com/UQVIcPPS2L

— Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown (@testdrive) November 22, 2024

A new patch is available now, and while it offers bug fixes and other improvements, it also adds support for a free vehicle – the 1986 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe “Adventurer” Edition – and a pack of five premium stickers. Hilariously enough, both are only free for Gold Edition owners who played before October 12th and will be available in the “first weeks” of Season 2. You also have to hit level 15 to access it.

On the bright side, at least the current patch improves the frame rate in Performance Mode, bumps the resolution from 1080p to 1440p in Quality Mode, and fixes over 40 bugs. Check out the full patch notes below for more details.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. You can read our review here.

Patch #2 Changelog:

Servers/Network

• Fixed various login issues
• Performance/Stability
• Reduced shadow cost in performance
• Added various optimizations to improve memory consumption and overall stability
• Fixed a crash that could happen when entering a spot
• Fixed a crash that could happen when traffic spawned
• Fixed a crash that could happen while buying car parts
• PC: Fixed a crash that could occur when playing with certain AMD GPUs
• PS5: Reduced frame drops in performance mode

Graphics

• Improved global illumination performance
• Improved octree tracing performance
• Improved shadow quality created by headlights
• Improved SSR upscaling
• PC: Use DLAA instead of FSR TAA by default when available
• PS5: Improved quality mode resolution from 1080p to 1440p

Compatibility

• PC: Fixed binding and default preset on Thrustmaster TMX wheel
• PC: Fixed Logitech G923 default binding
• PC: Fixed Moza devices default preset
• PC: Fixed issue where FFB was lost when the mouse was moved
• PC: Fixed issue where FFB could still be present when navigating menus
• PS5 & XS|X: Added presets for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox 360 and PS5 controllers
• PS5 & XS|X: Added clutch binding to default steering wheel presets
• PS5 & XS|X: Added gear binding to default steering wheel presets
• XS|X: Fixed default binding on Logitech devices
• XS|X: Added Fanatec CSL Elite as a recognized device

Bugfixes

• Fixed a softlock that could occur when opening the map at the same time as various menus
• Fixed a softlock when pausing and accelerating at the same time during cutscenes with Vivian
• Fixed garage’s slot not updating when uninstalling and reinstalling DLCs
• Fixed various localization issues
• Fixed an issue where pause menu would be unresponsive if Alyss menu was opened before
• Fixed Aliasing of certain fonts
• Fixed fences sometimes not having collisions
• Fixed pre-order Ford DLC text
• Fixed start button POI on Lotus Evija
• Fixed license plate light turning on with reverse & brake input on Alpine A110
• Fixed dirt wrongly applied on Corvette C7 ZR1
• Fixed brake light animation while spoiler is open on Porsche 911R
• Fixed cases where NPCs could be run through
• Fixed various wall collision issues
• Fixed an issue where French audio was not playing correctly
• Fixed pink pixel in dark areas
• Fixed RPM LEDs not resetting on the pause menu
• Fixed car color widget order
• Fixed the race “Fateful Confrontation” always being identified as a ranked race
• Fixed wrong highlighted races while having the secondary task “Ad Campaign” pinned
• Fixed DLCs vehicles appearing in the pause menu before unlocking them
• Fixed a case where the avatar could fall underground during onboarding in the first car dealer
• Fixed rewards depreciation enabling itself when abandoning or being disconnected from races
• Fixed a case where the wrong garment were applied to the avatar preview when switching rapidly from one category to another
• Fixed issue where car livery were not applied on other player’s cards
• Fixed High Stake event’s rush hour sometimes not triggering
• Fixed an issue where beard were not displayed properly after adding a mustache
• Fixed wrong car thumbnail ratio when using an ultra-wide monitor
• Improvement in AI behaviour while close to the player
• Fixed yellow floating lines
• Fixed GPS voice still talking when set to off
• Fixed issue where parts of the avatar would turn grey
• Fixed “Roof” selection on radial menu when driving a car with no roof
• Fixed issue where cars could change color depending on the distance
• Fixed ghost sometimes not being visible in Time Attack
• Fixed rain in the pause menu
• XS|X: Fixed black blinking during races
• XS|X: Fixed crash when reconnecting Logitech wheel
• XS|X: Fixed issue where wheel angle was being wrongly reset on Logitech devices

Misc

• Updated matchmaking value for toxicity
• Updated camera settings in shops
• Added F13 shortcut for ping display on Nvidia Reflex

In a new launch developer diary that outlines KT Racing’s next steps, creative director Alain Jarniou and game director Guillaume Guinet discuss offline mode and the solo experience. It doesn’t mean that the former is coming any time soon. Instead, it’s to make the game playable after Solar Crown’s “end-of-life phase.”

“Well, I think there are really things we want to maintain and others we want to evolve. I believe there are three main aspects,” said Guinet. “First, there’s the end-of-life phase, moving the game toward this offline dimension where it can be delivered.

“Then there’s the solo mode, as you mentioned, where we mainly want to focus on races because we know that the core gaming experience of Test Drive Unlimited is, after all, racing. People join even though they enjoy free roam, etc. But to progress, they need to participate in races. So we want to make that experience as straightforward as possible.”

While a solo experience makes sense for the team, it wants to maintain the third aspect of Solar Crown – its MMO nature. “We want to maintain that MMO dimension in free roam and hubs. This means fostering player interactions and continuing to encourage that. And if we want to do it in the races, of course, we’ll have the option to wait for other players.

“It really depends on each player’s preferred style of play; we need to allow that flexibility in Test Drive Unlimited. If someone prefers to progress in races in a more solo manner, they should be able to do that, and we’ll be able to facilitate that soon.”

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Check out our review – we awarded it a seven out of ten. You can also learn more about future updates, including the addition of Ibiza in December with Season 2, here.