Developed by GameMill Entertainment, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is a platform fighter akin to Super Smash Bros. Melee. It features Nickelodeon characters in one giant brawl with Danny Phantom, SpongeBob Squarepants, Hey Arnold!, the Rugrats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and more as playable characters.

SIE Santa Monica’s God of War follows up on the original Greek arc with Kratos now living in Midgard. Following the death of his wife, he embarks on a quest with his son Atreus, running afoul of Baldur and other Asgardians along the way. Acclaimed as one of the best games ever made, it’s sold over 19.5 million copies worldwide as of August 2021. Its PC port also performed well with over 971,000 units sold since launching in January 2022.

Finally, there’s Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker which introduces 4v4 combat and online play. Set during the Chunin Exams, it features the classic roster of Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Boruto, Sarada and more. Each character falls into one of four class types, be it Attack, Defense, Ranged or Heal.

As per Area Jugones (who’ve accurately leaked PS Plus lineups in the past), June 2022’s PlayStation Plus Essential lineup will feature God of War, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, and Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker. The inclusion of God of War in particular is sure to raise eyebrows, especially with multiple recent developments suggesting that a 2022 release date could soon be announced for the upcoming God of War Ragnarok.

According to the report, these games will become available for all subscribers to claim on June 7, and will remain available until July 5, with an official announcement allegedly coming on June 1. Stay tuned until then for more updates.

Xbox Game Pass’ already impressive catalog of games is going to become much more exciting, considering the bevy of games in line to join the service. The first of those games, which will be coming to Game Pass over the next few days, have been confirmed by Microsoft.

On December 5, side-scrolling action shooter My Friend Pedro and Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker will join Game Pass. The next day, pinball title Demon’s Tilt and musical adventure game Wandersong will be added to the catalog. Finally, December 12 will see the release of eFootball PES 2020, Overcooked! 2, The Division (the first one), and Pathalogic 2.

That’s a pretty solid selection of games. PES 2020 is a pretty recent release too, so anyone who’s been on the fence about giving it a go now has a good reason to. Meanwhile, My Friend Pedro and Pathalogic 2 are both great games, while Overcooked! 2 is excellent if you have someone to play with.

Of course, yesterday, we also saw the release of Halo: Reach via The Master Chief Collection, which is available through Game Pass as well.

With E3 2018 out of the way, Gamescom 2018 in Cologne, Germany is the next big expo to look out for. To kick things off early, Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe has announced its line-up, which will include 11 playable games.

Eight of the games in question are:

• Jump Force
• SoulCalibur 6
• Dragon Ball FighterZ on Nintendo Switch
• One Piece World Seeker
  
• Code Vein
• Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
• My Hero One’s Justice
• Naruto To Boruto: Shinobi Striker

Hervé Hoerdt, Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe VP of marketing and digital, provided a general statement about the publisher’s presence at the show. “Gamescom is one of the best opportunities to give our fans an early, first-hand look at some of our biggest upcoming titles – and 2018 is no exception,” he said. “This year’s line-up includes the return of fan favourites such as SoulCalibur, Dragon Ball and One Piece, as well as all-new titles such as the mashup of the greatest-ever manga and anime characters in Jump Force.”

Hoerdt also made sure to mention a new project that would be appearing at the show. “We’re also proud to announce a brand-new co-publishing project at the show we think our fans will be very excited about. Stayed tuned for more information.”

What could the other playable games be? Perhaps Twin Mirror, the new narrative adventure mystery developed by Dontnod Entertainment (of Life is Strange fame)? It’s also possible that the PS4 and Xbox One versions of Larian Studios’ Divinity: Original Sin 2 are playable, seeing as Bandai Namco is the publisher.

Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe will be in Hall 6 – B41 and Gamescom will run from August 21^st to 25^th. Expect other publishers to announce their presence for the show in the coming weeks.