Launching in October 2020 for early access, Systemic Reaction originally planned to release version 1.0 last year. However, a few “critical issues” resulted in it being pushed back. “Unfortunately, it became clear that our small team lacked the resources necessary to hit our quality targets and exit Early Access and Game Preview, and the investment needed to do so was too large for us to bear.” This would help explain the relative lack of updates in the past year or so.

“After evaluating our options and working during this year to find other potential solutions, this became the reality our team had to face.” It will communicate “well in advance” when the servers shut down next year.

While it’s not the best situation for the developer or those who bought into early access, there have been no layoffs. “The passion, talent, and skill of the team who worked on Second Extinction is being put to good use on other projects across Avalanche Studios Group. We ask for your understanding and compassion towards the team members involved in the project who poured their hearts into this game as we move on to our next adventures.”

As a squad-focused first-person shooter, Second Extinction saw players battling across regions to help the War Effort. Though tackling unique threat levels, the success of other players could lower them. If it gets too high, an Emergence Event could occur.

What’s next for Systemic Reaction? It announced the completion of development for Ravenbound on October 5th, and other projects are in the works. As always, stay tuned for future announcements.

PREMISE

Second Extinction has the sort of elevator pitch that instantly grabs your attention. It’s a first person shooter where your primary enemies are dinosaurs. And these aren’t ordinary dinos either. In Second Extinction, the world has been taken over by a mutated breed of dinosaurs that grants them terrifying size, mutations, and abilities, with only a few human survivors left, all of whom have banded together and retreated to a base in Earth’s orbit. What’s left of humanity is waging a war on the dinosaurs in order to take the planet back, with regular incursions send down to the planet to that end.

SOLO AND CO-OP

Second Extinction can be played solo, if you wish to do that, but it does, of course, also feature 3-player co-op, allowing you to take on dinosaur hordes with two other players. In fact, it’s very much been designed around that, with Systemic Reaction saying that the co-op is what the game is is built on first and foremost. If you decide to go in alone, you’ll be facing a much tougher challenge.

DINOSAURS

The dinosaurs are obviously the starts of the show in Second Extinction, and there’s a number of different kinds that you’ll be crossing paths with as you play the game, from raptors and t-rexes to different variations of types. Of course, given the fact that they’re all mutated, they will have unique abilities and attacks as well, including being able to generate electricity and spit acid. Dinosaurs in Second Extinction also work together, and can call for reinforcements.

CHARACTERS

Second Extinction has several playable characters that come with different classes, abilities, and weapons. For instance, there’s Sunetra, a field researcher who specializes in detecting enemies’ weaknesses and functions primarily as a support character. Jurgen is a long-range specialist armed with a sniper rifle, and even has an ability that grants him temporary invisibility. Rosy, meanwhile, is a tank with plenty of health and a minigun, and is perfect for people who like to brute force their way through challenging fights.

MORE CHARACTERS

Second Extinction has six playable characters, three of whom we’ve talked about. In the remaining group, Amir is a particularly useful one, not only because he has a grenade launcher, but also because his ability lets him sense surprise attacks from enemies. Ortega, meanwhile, is a Trooper class character, who is perfect for those who want to focus on dealing out steady damage and enjoy quick movement. Finally, there’s Jack, another Enforcer who can charge into enemies headfirst with deadly attacks and high damage resistance.

WEATHER AND TIME OF DAY

Dropping down into incursions to complete quests and dinosaurs while seeing progression for your character is the central loop in Second Extinction, but the game throws in other wrinkles to make things interesting in other ways. For instance, weather events such as snowstorms and sandstorms can make things trickier in the heat of combat, while certain missions also take place at night time, which has its own flavour.

THREAT LEVEL

Second Extinction’s metagame is all about the threat level. Systemic Reaction has built this as a live service experience that reacts to how the community is performing as a whole and sees changes from week-to-week. The more players successfully complete missions and objectives, the better the threat level will be. The threat level of an area, in turn, will determine how heavy its dinosaur population is. The four threat levels in the game are low, medium, high, and emergence.

1.0 CONTENT

As you’d expect, Second Extinction’s looming 1.0 launch is going to add a new chunk of content to the game to bulk up its offerings further. While we won’t know the specifics until the game has launched in full, as per the brief details provided by System Reaction, the game’s full launch will bring a revamped progression system, a couple of new dinosaur species (one of which is a flying creature), new mutations, improvements to the weapon upgrade system, being able to start new missions in the map without have to begin a new session, and the ability to free roam maps without having any missions activated. There’s also an enhanced user interface, improvements made to onboarding and the user experience, the ability to change loadouts by visiting bunkers, changes made to the War Effort metagame, an increase of the level cap to level 99, expanded difficulty options, additional customization options, a revised contract system, new cosmetic rewards, and more.

HORDE MODE

For those who’re in it for the pure thrill of shooting dinosaurs and don’t want to get distracted by missions or objectives, Second Extinction’s “Emergency Landing” mode is for you. It’s essentially a horde more where you find yourself on the planet equipped only with a pistol, and are tasked with taking on increasingly formidable waves of dinosaurs. The better you do, the more credits you earn, which in turn allows you to make purchases to help you progress further. It’s the horde mode formula we’re all very familiar with, except it also has mutant dinosaurs. There’s also a leaderboard to add a bit of a competitive edge to the proceedings.

CROSS-PLAY

Second Extinction’s multiplayer-centric nature means that it needs to have as little friction for its players as possible on that front. Thankfully, the game features support for cross-platform multiplayer, which means all players on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC (via Steam, the Epic Games Store, and the Microsoft Store) can play with each other. Second Extinction also comes with support for voice chat and matchmaking lobbies.

GAME PASS

Second Extinction is going to be available for purchase upon full launch for those who want to buy it, of course, but if you’re still on the fence about the game but want to give it a shot, there’s good news for you. The shooter has been available via Game Pass since it launched in early access last year, and when it launches in full on October 20, it will continue to be available to all subscribers of the service.

PC REQUIREMENTS

If you’re planning on playing Systemic Reaction’s co-op dino shooter on a PC, you’ll be glad to know that it’s not a terrible demanding game where system requirements are concerned. On minimum settings, you’ll need either an Intel Core i5-3570 or an AMD Ryzen 3 1300X, along with either an Nvidia GTX 780 (3 GB) or an AMD R9 280 (3 GB), along with 12 GB of RAM. Meanwhile, on recommended settings, you’ll need either an Intel Core i7-4770 or an AMD Ryzen 5 1600X, along with either an Nvidia GTX 1070 (8 GB) or an AMD Vega 56 (8 GB), and 16 GB of RAM. On either setting, you’ll need about 50 GB of free storage space.

LEGO Bricktales

While LEGO Brawls was all about combat, Clockstone’s LEGO Bricktales is a more chilled-out experience. You explore gorgeous LEGO dioramas, from deserts and a castle to Caribbean islands, solving puzzles and receiving new skills to spice up your grandfather’s aging amusement park. The main appeal is being given bricks and figuring out the solutions.

It’s an interesting mix of engineering and sandbox gameplay with five biomes to explore, multiple collectibles and side quests and a dedicated Sandbox Mode to tinker around in. LEGO Bricktales launches on October 12th for Xbox, PlayStation, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Persona 5 Royal (Xbox, PC, Switch, and PS5)

After garnering critical acclaim on the PS4 for two years, Persona 5 Royal is finally coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Nintendo Switch and PS5 on October 21st. As an enhanced version of Persona 5, Royal offers new story events, a new Palace, Ultimate Persona, quality-of-life features, a third semester, and a new party member in Kasumi. All previously released DLC is also included for free, and it’s also launching on day one for Game Pass.

If you’re yet to fall in with the Phantom Thieves and experience one of the best RPGs ever, then Persona 5 Royal is worth a look.

Dragon Ball: The Breakers

Ever wanted to play an asymmetrical, Dead by Daylight title but with Dragon Ball characters, running in fear from overpowered villainous beings? Dragon Ball: The Breakers is your oddly specific ticket, pitting seven ordinary humans against the likes of Frieza, Buu and Cell. Venture to different regions for keys to activate the Super Time Machine and either avoid the villains or use Dragon Change to fight back as legendary heroes like Goku, Vegeta, and Trunks.

The villain’s role is simple: Hunt down the survivors, level up and become stronger, and destroy any means of escape. That means decimating entire parts of the map, wrecking the time machines and beating survivors to a pulp. Dragon Ball: The Breakers is out on October 13th for Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

New Tales from the Borderlands

Gearbox Entertainment returns to the adventure-style format (sans Telltale Games) with New Tales from the Borderlands. Out on October 21st for Xbox and PlayStation platforms along with PC and Nintendo Switch, it features three new characters – scientist Anu, her brother Octavio and Fran, the owner of a frozen yogurt store. Together, they’ll search for a Vault Key while hopefully surviving against Pandora’s various hazards and corporate entities.

As with the first game, quick-time events and dialogue choices can affect the narrative, resulting in different outcomes. Will it have Rhys and Vaughn in cameos? One can always hope.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle was already a stellar title that fused two unlikely intellectual properties together in a strategy RPG bonanza. But Sparks of Hope looks to be even bigger, featuring multiple planets to explore, massively expanded exploration with puzzles, side quests, and secrets, and a new antagonist in Cursa. Combat has been overhauled, doing away with the grid-based movement and adding new abilities along with the Sparks for elemental damage.

If that weren’t enough, new characters like Edge, Rabbid Rosalina and Bowser join the roster for even more unique squads. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope launches exclusively for Nintendo Switch on October 20th.

Gotham Knights

Batman is dead, guys. For really real. As a result, it’s up to the Fumbling Four – er, the Bat Family to protect Gotham in his absence. Unlike the Arkham series, Gotham Knights is an action RPG with four playable characters – Nightwing, Robin, Red Hood, and Batgirl – each with unique abilities and play styles, gear, and stories to experience. As you fight crime, you’ll encounter classic villains like Harley Quinn, Mister Freeze, Clayface, and the mysterious Court of Owls.

Gotham Knights is out on October 21st for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC with support for two-player co-op.

A Plague Tale: Requiem

As the follow-up to Asobo Studio’s breakout action-adventure title, A Plague Tale: Requiem sees Amicia and Hugo on the run again. This time, the siblings must travel to a mysterious island, seeking a cure for Hugo’s disease before it consumes him. Things are far from ideal as mercenaries hunt them, and the plague rats are as hungry as ever.

With new weapons like a crossbow, alchemical potions, and Hugo’s ability to control the rats for devouring any foes, A Plague Tale: Requiem promises a much bigger experience. It releases on October 18th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch via the cloud, along with Game Pass.

Scorn

What do you get when you combine “ick” with a whole lot of “yuck”? Probably Ebb Software’s Scorn, a first-person survival horror title with a biopunk aesthetic inspired by the works of H. R. Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński. Explore fantastical, disgusting structures made of machines and flesh, implant various weapons into your body, and seek answers for this whole mess across a non-linear story.

Scorn may require around 6-8 hours, probably more, on your first playthrough, but there’s nothing like it. It launches on October 21st for Xbox Series X/S and PC, along with Game Pass.

WRC Generations

KT Racing’s final WRC racing game is out on October 13th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5, with the PC version releasing in November. It’s the biggest one yet with brand new hybrid model cars and revamped physics, 37 Legendary Cars, and 750 km of tracks spread across 22 countries. Progression has also been revamped, tracking tasks completed across the game, and the Livery Editor returns with more options and the ability to share your creations with other players. There sadly won’t be any post-launch content, but at least the new Leagues mode should satisfy fans for the long haul.

Dakar Desert Rally

If one rally racing game isn’t enough, there’s Saber Interactive’s Dakar Desert Rally. Promising the “biggest and most epic off-road rally racing adventure ever developed,” it offers 30 stages from the 2020-2022 Dakar Rally races. Players can race across a massive open world with officially licensed SSVs, quads, trucks, and much more while tackling dynamic weather like rain, snow, and the blazing sun.

With a Career mode, online multiplayer events, and four seasons to experience, Dakar Desert Rally launches on October 4th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC.

Marvel Snap

Are your current Hearthstone and/or Marvel needs not being met? Worry not, because Marvel Snap releases on October 18th for PC, Android and iOS. Developed by Second Dinner Studios, which consists of Hearthstone veterans, it’s a 1v1 multiplayer CCG with over 150 unique cards to play (and more coming post-launch).

Matches play out in random locations with different effects and players can “Snap” to effectively double down in a match. Whether it overtakes Hearthstone and Legends of Runeterra, the fast-paced gameplay and gorgeous comic book illustrations make Marvel Snap worth checking out.

Overwatch 2

Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch 2 finally launches on October 4th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch…as an early access, free-to-play title. It’s pretty much an update to Overwatch 1 with three new heroes – Junker Queen, Sojourn and Kiriko; six new maps; and the new Push mode. Assault is out, and teams now consist of five players with only one Tank. A seasonal model of content releases is also in effect, meaning no more loot boxes but yes to an in-game store and Battle Passes.

Time will tell how it pans out. All players will need to enable SMS Protect while new players have to unlock each hero and play 50 Quick Play matches to unlock Competitive (not to mention unlocking Kiriko and future new heroes in the Battle Pass). But at least it supports crossplay and cross-progression with all Overwatch 1 cosmetics carrying over.

PGA Tour 2K23

Two years after PGA Tour 2K21, the next edition of 2K Games’ golfing simulator will release on October 14th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, PS4, and PS5. Aside from the usual PGA Tour mode and MyPLAYER (which offers new skills and archetypes), male and female pros are now playable. The Course Designer also returns with cross-platform support and online sharing. With multiple control options, online multiplayer (including Divot Derby) and Online Societies for Clubhouses, it should be a sizable leap over its predecessor.

NHL 23

Also launching on October 14th is EA Sports’ NHL 23. Along with mixed women’s and men’s teams in Ultimate Team mode, the hockey sim offers new gameplay features like Last Chance Puck Movement. It allows for hitting the puck even after tripping, with players taking advantage of new Stumble Actions to score. Enhanced goalie AI, on-ice projections, more customization in HUT to go with new reward tiers in the rotating HUT Rivals playlist, and more also await. NHL 23 will be available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5 at launch.

Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed

Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is IllFonic’s latest asymmetrical multiplayer title, which sees a squad of four Ghostbusters taking on a single mischievous Ghost. As the Ghostbusters, one must explore a map and track down the Ghost, taking care to calm civilians in the process. Meanwhile, the Ghost must terrorize everyone, possessing objects to stay hidden and ultimately evading capture to haunt a location.

With crossplay, original actors like Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson reprising their original roles, and co-op and offline play, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed should be a fun diversion when it launches on October 18th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC. And remember – don’t cross the streams.

Bayonetta 3

The Umbra Witch finally returns as Bayonetta 3 launches exclusively for the Nintendo Switch on October 28th. While the basic hack and slash combat remains, the sequel introduces several new mechanics. Demon Slave allows for directly controlling Infernal Demons to bash giant foes, while Demon Masquerade sees Bayonetta fusing with a demon to gain new abilities. Throw in new weapons, a new playable character Viola, and a multi-world threat in the form of the Singularity, and Bayonetta 3 promises to be the series’ most explosive title yet.

Second Extinction

Systemic Reaction, which has been in the news for its upcoming open-world rogue-lite Ravenbound, will finally release its co-op dinosaur shooter Second Extinction on October 20th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC. The idea is to survive against hordes of dinosaurs with two other players, and there are six heroes, 11 weapons and multiple missions to tackle.

The real twist is War Effort where the threat level of a region increases or decreases based on how the community performs. If you’re still holding out for a new Dino Crisis, then this could make the wait easier.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Along with the campaign, fans can look forward to multiplayer with new modes and weapons along with a revamped Gunsmith. There are also co-op missions for two players and Raids that offer in-depth puzzle solving and firefights for three players. If battle royale is more your speed, Warzone 2.0 will launch just a few weeks later and offer a new Gulag and AI foes.

System Reaction has announced that Second Extinction will exit early access in October. Its 1.0 update will, of course, bring plenty of new additions, a new map and biome, two new dinosaurs, improvements to weapon upgrades and progression, and a number of other quality-of-life improvements, a revamped War Effort metagame, tweaks to the UI, new cosmetic rewards, and more.

A trailer has also been released to accompany the game’s full launch date. Check it out below.

Second Extinction will launch on October 20 for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC. The game is also available via Game Pass.

Horizon Forbidden West

Guerilla Games’ upcoming Horizon Forbidden West will continue the tale of series protagonist Aloy as she ventures forth to the Forbidden West with the goal of clearing the corruption spread by H.A.D.E.S. Much like Zero Dawn, players will be fighting a bevy of dangerous machines, with some clearly being modeled after dinosaurs such as the likes of Thunderjaw, Stormbirds, Watchers, and many more. While it isn’t confirmed how many of those will be returning from the original, it’s likely that at least a few will make the cut, and a whole bunch of new creatures would be roaming the landscapes.

Currently in early access, Second Extinction allows up to three players to team together and utilize a variety of weapons and abilities to tackle the prehistoric threat. The key hook is the ability to impact the Threat Level of missions for other players, resulting in an increased challenge. It’s still fairly rough but offers promise.

Thus far, Epic Games has doled out titles like Loop Hero, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and Remnant from the Ashes for free. It’s also running an unlimited $10 coupon offer for its Holiday Sale. All users receive $10 off of any purchase above $14.99. Each purchase nets another coupon until the sale ends on January 6th, 2022.

Microsoft has announced the last few titles coming to Xbox Game Pass for April. It kicks off with MLB The Show 21, available now for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and the cloud. On April 22nd, co-op title Phogs! comes to PC subscribers. Co-op dinosaur shooter Second Extinction is out on April 28th for console, PC and the cloud, albeit as part of Xbox Game Preview.

The title is still in early access so Game Pass provides a nice way to see if it’s up your alley. Next up is Destroy All Humans! on April 29th, launching for consoles, PC and the cloud. As a remake of the original, it sees Crypto-137 harvesting humans and taking down armies with all kinds of alien weapons and abilities.

Fable 3 and Fable Anniversary will be available to play via the cloud on April 30th. On the same day, several titles will be leaving Xbox Game Pass. The titles and their platforms in question are:

• Endless Legend (PC)
• For the King (Cloud, Console and PC)
• Fractured Minds (Cloud and Console)
• Levelhead (Cloud, Console and PC)
• Moving Out (Cloud, Console and PC)
• Thumper (PC)

It feels like, for whatever reason, that killing dinosaurs in a game kind of vanished. Second Extinction, the horde shooter-based title from Systemic Reaction, is looking to remedy that in a big way with all kinds of dinosaur killing (technically, they are generically engineered dinosaurs, but whatever, good enough). Those on PC have been getting a good taste for awhile, and now it’s time for Xbox folks to get their fair share.

It was announced earlier this year the game would be coming to Xbox Game Preview, and now we know it will be next month, as well as being part of Xbox Game Pass. The Steam version of the game has been in early access for those gaming on PC for quite sometime. You can check out the announcement trailer below.

Second Extinction is playable now in early access on PC, and will launch for Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One on Xbox Game Preview and Xbox Game Pass on April 28th.

If the idea of slaughtering a bunch of mutated dinosaurs sounds appealing to you, then Second Extinction is probably the game for you. A Horde-like game where you and teammates mow down waves of the creatures, it has been in early access for PC players for a good while now, and now it’s time for Xbox players to get in on the killing.

Yesterday, there was a brief teaser for a Xbox reveal that saw a dinosaur get smashed with a Xbox Series X. It seems it was a teaser for the announcement as seen below. The game will be joining Xbox Game Preview this Spring.

Second Extinction is planned for release for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC. As of now the game is running in early access on PC. As of now, though, no dates have been revealed for when it’ll hit Xbox Game Preview. We’ll keep you updated. In the meantime, we got a chance to sit down with the Lead Producer to talk about various aspects of the game, which you can read in full through here.

It feels like it’s been quite some time since we massacred dinosaurs in video games, and Second Extinction looks to remedy that. The horde mode based title sees you taking on all kinds of mutated dino menaces. Those on Steam have been enjoying the game’s Early Access release since last year, and now something on the Xbox side is being teased soon.

A very brief teaser was released to tease a Xbox reveal. It involves one of the before mentioned dinosaurs running down the street and then a giant Xbox Series X coming to crush it, complete with green blood splatter. I guess that’s one way to get your attention. Whatever its teasing is set to be released on February 18th. Whether it’ll be a release date or early access coming to Xbox is anyone’s guess.

Second Extinction is set to release at some point this year. It’s available in Early Access on PC via Steam now, and is also set to come to Xbox Series X/S.