The Monarch butterfly is sure to bring a dash of color to habitats you choose to populate with it, while the Bactrian Camel could give you some challenges if you don’t create the right conditions to let it thrive. Wild boars and common ostriches are also coming to the game, and it’s going to be interesting to see what kind of ecosystems we can create for them. The Threespot damselfish and Moon jellyfish are also inbound, and they’re looking as realistic as the rest of the new entries.

It’s quite a balanced spread of additions across the board, and every new name is certain to come with challenges for you to overcome, as well as benefits that can help every other creature under your care thrive and live its best life. Which is kind of the point, really. We’ve left some screnshots of each new entrant below in case you want a closer look ahead of the game’s October 13th launch.

It’s currently at 72 percent “Mostly Positive”, thanks to issues around crashes and poor flight-stick controller integration. There’s also a bit of a fuss around Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War not having its own standalone app on the platform, forcing players who want to play it to download the new game in its entirety.

The studio has announced it is aware of crash reports on Steam and is looking into potential solutions to get you up in the sky and keep you there long enough for its excellent gameplay and cinematic presentation to win you over. That’s certainly been the case during our time with the PS5 version of the game, where its examinations of the effects of armed conflicts in the story don’t get in the way of some phenomenal action once you’re in the cockpit. It’s a balance that even the best games don’t get right sometimes, but that’s definitely not the case here.

It also recommends you try updating your graphics drivers and ensure you’ve got enough storage and virtual memory active on Windows as preventive measures. As for those other issues, there’s nothing in the latest announcement that addresses them at the moment.

If you’re waiting it out until the team behind it gives you a green light to fly on the PC, we’d recommend using that time to catch up on the live-action prelude to the game called HOUR ZERO. It’s pretty good on its own, and even better once you begin to see how well it leads into the story the game is trying to tell.

When asked how players’ expectations shaped the creative process behind the scenes, Rockstar North’s co-studio head Aaron Garbut replied that the pressure is real. That said, instead of cutting back, the studio went even bigger.

“As the pressure for us on this project is huge, we dealt with that by doing our best to over-deliver. Normally you compromise scale for detail or detail for interaction, but with this project we went the other way – everything is dialled up – detail, scope, breadth, scale, interaction, and density. I don’t think we have ever created anything close to this before,” he said, as highlighted by IGN.

We’re well aware that a lot of hard work has undoubtedly gone into every other game from the studio, but you have to admit they make creating great experiences look effortless. What has us as excited as we are, then, is the prospect of engaging with something that’s a challenge even to the talented minds among its ranks.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is quickly becoming quite the magnum opus of modern gaming, and we hope it influences what the next few years in modern gaming will look like when it launches worldwide on November 19th for Xbox Series X/S and PS5. Those weather systems could be a great place to start, in our opinion.

And that’s only the start. Rockstar vice president of art for lighting and rendering Owen Shepherd revealed that “GTA 6’s rain creates realistic rainbows under the right lighting conditions, and that recently showered areas will remain wet on the ground and create persistent puddles once the storm passes.”

Of course, those expecting even more extreme conditions can look forward to tropical storms and even hurricanes. Game Informer noted that “heavy clouds, strong winds, dense atmospherics and a lot of rain combine so that everything is dripping wet, water is gushing off roof edges and lampposts, thunder rumbles and flashes of lightning light up the clouds dramatically.”

While these should make for visually arresting scenarios, we’re curious how they could affect gameplay. Will storms make it easier to evade police, with the added risk of death or even flipping your car at high speeds on slick roads? Can flying too close to an active hurricane impact your mission? How much of this plays into the story?

It’s a lot to take in, and that’s not even accounting for the impact on Leonida’s NPCs. Will streets become less crowded when it rains heavily? What about shops closing early because of a hurricane warning? Time will tell, but given the thought that Rockstar has put into the world and its systems, it wouldn’t be surprising.

Grand Theft Auto 6 launches on November 19th for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and despite numerous delays, it seems to be on track at long last. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.

And if you enjoyed the sheer amount of animals and species in Red Dead Redemption 2, GTA 6 ups the ante significantly. Over 170 species, including 60+ types of birds, over 30 land mammals, manatees, flamingos, pelicans, alligators, and more await. That also means several species that are brand new, not just for the series but for Rockstar’s games overall. They’re divided into different categories, including Discoverable, Rare and Legendary. Suffice to say, expect a few surprises, since the developer doesn’t want to reveal them all ahead of time.

“Florida has a diverse animal ecosystem that we wanted to faithfully include across the different biomes in Leonida – urban and rural environs, aquatic life both inland and ocean, and the wetland habitats like the swamps and Everglades. The animal art and population teams are incredibly passionate about delivering animals that are accurately researched and look visually correct in every respect, alongside the supporting movement and animation to bring them to life,” says Michael Kane, Rockstar VP of dynamic art.

Marine life is also extensive, especially with all the sharks, jellyfish, whales and whatnot lying in wait beneath the water’s surface. Rockstar has gone the extra mile to ensure that each species is realistically detailed – besides “iridescence, bioluminescence, translucency, and feather types,” you can expect fully simulated fur and new hair systems. If that wasn’t enough, Kane says that fur allows for “human-to-animal interaction with dirt matting and clumping in environmental contexts, including getting wet, as well as color and coat variations,” Kane explains.

Head here for more details on Grand Theft Auto 6’s various regions or check out the latest screenshots here. It’s out on November 19th for Xbox Series X/S and PS5.

But while Vice City, described as “completely rebuilt” and “expanded,” garners the most attention, the state itself comprises five other regions: Leonida Keys, the Grassrivers, Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia, and Mount Kalaga National Park. The Grassrivers is an “expansive, biodiverse wetland filled with reptilian predators and questionably friendly, probably armed outdoorsmen,” so expect plenty of danger (especially if it mirrors the drug-running of the Everglades, its biggest inspiration).

Gellhorn is where the struggling parts of Vice City reside, from rundown motels and strip malls to barren tourist attractions. Amborisa, the “heart” of Leonida, is the region with numerous factories, refineries and – you guessed it – a local biker gang with plenty of pull. As for Mount Kalaga, wildlife thrives the most, so expect the most dangerous animals to reside here.

As Rockstar’s biggest map by “some degree,” it’s easy to see how the scope goes beyond just Vice City. “Part of the job of the game’s story is to bring the player around the map in a way that feels authentic and interesting. We don’t have time to take you everywhere, but we want you to be able to explore and get a feel for most of the places, cultures, and vibes…This game and its stories really thrive in an environment where you have rich people and poor people right next door to each other. And crime and corruption are the thread that pulls everyone together,” says senior vice president of narrative Rupert Humphries.

“This new world is different,” added head of development/co-studio head Aaron Garbut. “We obsessed about every part – the rooftops, the alleys, the internals and everything in between to the point we hit a critical mass with the number of our interiors, and you start to feel the buildings are more real inside and out. This world is a cohesive whole with the density of content and a hand-crafted quality to every bit.”

Launching on November 19th, Grand Theft Auto 6 will be available for Xbox Series X/S and PS5. Check out the latest screenshots here, which showcase new features like thunderstorms.

Thanks to Insider Gaming, we get to see a few confirmed activities first-hand, starting with hunting. Jason is seen in the wilderness with a quad-bike and a rifle on his back, staking out some deer from afar (or taking in the impressive god rays, you be the judge). Another image showcases an impressive spread of avian wildlife in a swamp, with the odd deer running through.

There’s also a shot of Jason with a baseball bat on his shoulder, an open cash register and a clearly unconscious shopkeeper in the back. Masks are fairly prominent, whether it’s our main man pulling out a pistol to confront approaching bikers or Lucia skulking behind a barrel with an AR, looking to eavesdrop on a deal in progress. And yes, as promised, we can see a hint of the “advanced” weather system in the final shot with a thunderstorm in the background.

Grand Theft Auto 6 launches on November 19th for Xbox Series X/S and PS5. Stay tuned for more details – and hype – in the coming weeks.

Given that it’s a free upgrade for one of the most beloved RPGs of the previous generation, this probably isn’t too surprising. Compare this to the Next-Gen Update’s 2024 release at 89,451 and the debut of season 1 for Netflix’s The Witcher in 2020 with 103,329 concurrent players.

It probably won’t beat Cyberpunk 2077, which is still CD Projekt RED’s biggest release on Steam, but the Remastered version’s player count could climb further in the coming days. While it’s a free upgrade for current owners, regardless of the edition purchased (including the base game), The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered is also 50 percent off until October 1st.

For more details on what it offers, check out our review. You can also glean the full list of official changes and new features, which include, but aren’t limited to, improved combat animations, support for upscalers like DLSS 4.5 and FSR 4.0, an overhauled skill tree, transmog, less iffy Roach behavior (though you can always toggle it), and more.

“From the very beginning of development, we wanted to evolve the game to be more player-driven in terms of exploration, progression, and narrative. It definitely helps to have a powerful system because even though people loved the relatively confined spaces of Control, we wanted to open it up.

“We wanted bigger draw distances, more physics objects, and more enemies on screen. It’s definitely Remedy’s biggest game – I think one zone in Resonance is larger than any of the other zones in our previous games.”

Sergey went on to discuss how the team was able to make use of the PS5’s unique features, like the adaptive triggers and haptic feedback on its DualSense controller, to give players a more immersive experience. Doing so, he said, allowed the team to design the game around players being able to feel their way through intense combat encounters rather than having to look at the in-game interface.

“Getting that feeling of resistance and an extra click contributes a great deal to making the abilities feel more powerful. And that’s important in things like combat, so you don’t have to look at Dylan’s interface; you can just feel your way through instead.”

Control Resonant is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, and even before its release, was garnering quite the fan base. Developer Remedy Entertainment revealed earlier this month that it had surpassed 2 million wishlists across all platforms before release. This served as a major jump over the previous month, when the company had announced that it had been wishlisted 1.5 million times.

Remedy doesn’t have any plans to walk away from Control Resonant following its release. Just last week, the studio confirmed that it is working on a New Game++ mode for the title, which is slated to arrive in October. The feature is set to be an evolution of the typical New Game+ experience, allowing players to play through the game any number of times. “Do 665 runs if you want,” said the studio.

November will see another update for Control Resonant, this time around bringing in a Photo Mode that the studio said it has been “cooking for a while”. Interestingly, the team “consulted some talented virtual photographers from the community to help us make it the best it can be.” More updates are planned for the future as well, bringing more cosmetics for protagonist Dylan Faden.

For more details about Control Resonant, take a look at our review, where we gave it a score of 9 out of 10 thanks to incredible art direction, fun traversal, responsive combat, and exceptional storytelling. Our only complaints were that the combat system took some time to open up, and there is some iffy dialogue throughout the story.

Olga was seen as a necessary boss fight that couldn’t be avoided since defeating her is how Snake gets his hands on the USP pistol, which is necessary to destroy the sensors that would trigger an explosion in another part of the ship. The tranquilizer pistol itself, while far more effective when it comes to dealing with enemies, can’t destroy these sensors, and as a result, players can’t avoid the fight against Olga.

In a video showcasing the skip, Apel takes us through the early parts of the Tanker chapter, swiftly making their way to the ship’s bridge where the encounter takes place. Along the way, Apel picks up all the extras they might need, like ammo, while also taking out a few troublesome guards with their tranquilizer pistol. When it’s time to actually deal with the sensors, rather than getting their hands on the USP pistol, Apel instead lures a guard to the sensors to trigger an explosion.

How the skip works is a bit more complicated when taking behind-the-scenes details into account. Like many games, Metal Gear Solid 2 also has progression flags that are triggered in its memory state to track player progress. While players will still get a game over screen even if Snake isn’t directly the one to trigger the explosion, the speedrunner can avoid this by rolling into a checkpoint while the bomb is being triggered. This means that the “game saves the value of the flag after the explosions happen”, which means that the encounter with Olga can be completely skipped.

Along with being a major step forward for the speedrunning community for Metal Gear Solid 2 in general, this is also the only boss skip to have been discovered in the game so far. Despite players having discovered many tricks over the years that might allow them to speed through various areas of the title, the boss fights have always been considered mandatory. This new skip will likely lead to plenty of speedrunners figuring out new, quicker routes through the game. As a result, there will also likely be a plethora of new world records set in the coming days.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was originally released on the PS2 back in 2001. The title eventually made its way to more platforms – the PS3 and Xbox 360 – thanks to its HD Edition re-release alongside Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. When it comes to modern gaming hardware, players can get their hands on the title by picking up Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1, which was released on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch back in 2023. Check out our review for more details.