But that’s not all. Considering pre-orders, the total is apparently closer to $100 million, and it’s reportedly close to 3.2 million sales. While it reportedly hasn’t surpassed ARC Raiders or Helldivers 2, two other very successful multiplayer shooters, in that same period, it’s still pretty impressive, especially since WARDOGS is in early access.

While Bulkhead has already outlined the team’s plans for the shooter, including raising the price over time, it will have a major new update out on October 15th. It kicks off Season 2 and adds heavy rain to maps, seemingly obscuring visibility. Of course, there will likely be several balance changes and other additions, so stay tuned for the full details.

WARDOGS is currently exclusive to PC, though the developer plans to bring it to Xbox Series X/S and PS5 in 2027. Check out our early access review and find out what’s made it so wildly popular.

It’s a horror title with co-op for up to three players that puts you in control of rejected Playtime Co. toys from Poppy Playtime to escape the factory. Which is easier said than done amid a lot of hostile efforts aiming to bring that journey to a premature end. There’s something about dolls in horror that creeps us out, and the new trailer is so chock full of them it has us wondering if this one’s a title we’ll only play with the lights. However, this could be the start of an experience where players work together and share memories of their escapes (or how badly they trolled their teammates).

The release trailer’s below for you to check out and discover why our hackles are raised with this one. Escape From Playtime plans to remain in early access for about a year, and includes eight playable dolls, the starter zone, and a “core enemy lineup.” Additional content will be added over time, so stay tuned for the roadmap.

Well, we’ve been given a closer look at the game’s chaotic battles in action, and it’s every bit as entertaining as we’d hoped. You get a good look at an amusing conversation between two people from different eras while the battles seem to challenge even troops with a marked technological advantage. With “tens of thousands” of soldiers on the field and the “fidelity of a AAA shooter”, things look to be realistic and immersive when this finally makes its way into our hands. Of course, bringing your friends along is the icing on the medieval cake.

We’re particularly interested in the excellent blend between a shooter and a real-time strategy title, as well as in using modern vehicles to cause all sorts of chaos on the battlefield. We can’t wait to dive into this one, and we’ve left the showcase below for you to see why.

Kingmakers doesn’t have a release date yet, even after its nearly year-long delay, but you can request access to a playtest on Steam. Stay tuned for further updates in the meantime.

Which is easier said than done. Other rejects like Miss Delight roam the hallways and are all too willing to rip you apart. Up to three players can team together, and while solo runs are viable, proximity chat makes it all the more hilarious when your friends get got. Unless they decide to push you down some stairs for laughs.

Throughout your escape attempt, the Voice provides guidance. Their identity remains unknown, but your objective is to scavenge for resources and tools. Many locales will look familiar, though layouts are procedurally generated, thus ensuring each run is as fresh as it is harrowing.

Escape From Playtime: A Smiling Critters Adventure is coming to PC. While a release date hasn’t been announced, it will enter early access and offer eight playable characters and one zone, with more added over time. Players can sign up for future playtests – stay tuned for more details on dates and timings.

Jagex CEO Job Bellamy has since told The Game Business that the team behind Dragonwilds had initially forecast a modest 200,000 early access copies sold, with the game’s current success being unprecedented. He attributed the surprise jump in sales to an unexpectedly good reception among Eastern audiences to the game’s unique style and tone – a detail the team believed would be better received in Western markets.

He revealed that Chinese markets have been significant contributors to sales in both the early and present stages of early access, proving some “long-held suspicions about culture fit” wrong, and hopefully allowing the team to be more confident in their work as this one continues its journey to a final release build.

The milestone has us wondering at how the time has flown by since its debut, and the fact that it racked up 600,000 sales in its first two weeks. It looks like that launch momentum has evened out into consistent sales for a survival crafting adventure that shows a lot of potential to be an addictive entertainer. Ashenfall’s a nasty place for those who face its many threats unprepared, but it’s also the gathering place for a community that’s grown quite well around the game’s success, and the many additions it has seen.

Of course, no one says you can’t have such an experience while still retaining the fantasy veneer, as Fatekeeper has done. The problem is that despite an admittedly stunning world and impressive use of lighting, the core combat execution leaves much to be desired, especially when it’s all that’s really there. For now, at least, but we’ll get to that.

Plot-wise, a lot isn’t explained, and you’re thrown in with little more than a loading screen narration to explain the set-up. From what I can understand, you’re on an island that’s witness to sudden slaughter, and en route to Haven, you have a Spirit Guide – a talking rat – who helps guide you. Upon reaching there, it’s essential to enter this ancient portal for training, which is a physically rending experience, and then return. Why didn’t we just hit some wooden dummies instead? Unclear.

"Though I brought up The Elder Scrolls and Kingdom Come with regards to combat, don’t let that fool you into thinking that Fatekeeper adopts their approach to world design. It’s as linear of an action-adventure as you can get, funnelling you down a very fixed path with very little deviation."

Anyway, it’s off to Mar Guran and its city, braving hostile creatures like the Vrog to access something called the Moon Gate while learning more about the Underdwellers – and the factions they split into.

There’s…something to the world-building, but it’s not in the dull exposition meted out in the loading screens or the banter between your character and the rat. It’s through the environments, which consist of ruined structures, some overgrown and now occupied by the Vrog as they attempt to stop your advance. Discovering massive statues of ancient figures that still stand guard or descending into the Waterways, finding piles of skulls and corpses before encountering what made them, is far more enthralling than simply being told what’s going on and why you should care, especially since your character’s motivation and the necessity of a Spirit Guide are both so excruciatingly vague.

Though I brought up The Elder Scrolls and Kingdom Come with regards to combat, don’t let that fool you into thinking that Fatekeeper adopts their approach to world design. It’s as linear of an action-adventure as you can get, funnelling you down a very fixed path with very little deviation. Which is repetitive in the early going since it feels like the standard rollercoaster protocol – keep all hands and feet inside the ride, barring the peaks and valleys that you’d expect. Things do open up past the first hour when nearing Mar Guran, especially in the larger rooms where you need to dodge arrows and do some platforming to access the two levers necessary to open the way forward.

However, at other points, it’s simply about slaying the Vrog on the ground while archers pelt you from above, as reinforcements occasionally arrive. Otherwise, prepare for stretches where you’re gathering materials, opening chests and coffers, and occasionally happening upon campsites to save and alchemy pots for mixing potions (which actually feels neat since items and ingredients can have different effects depending on whether they’re brewed or used as is).

And because of how the game tracks progress, dying before reaching the next campsite can often set you back by quite a bit. At least it’s nice enough to autosave at stage transitions.

"For some reason, however, investing in any one of these branches locks you off from the rest. I went with melee damage upgrades at first, with an alternate path that could boost attack speed, but couldn’t invest any points in improving my survivability, much less buffing magic."

Since there’s really no other way around it, let’s talk about the combat. It’s weighty and slow at first, which takes some getting used to, but it’s even clunkier when transitioning from a dash to a light attack or dodging into a counter. Your character can guard attacks and perfect parry with the right timing, but it’s almost as difficult to nail as a perfect dodge (and failure to land either of these will very quickly decimate you during the first real boss fight).

Attack speed upgrades do little to offset the overall clunky animations and feel, not to mention the pain of feeling like your weapons have more reach than they actually do. Magic adds an intriguing dimension to all this, especially if you leverage the environment. For instance, telekinesis, which can also manipulate switches to open gates, can pull enemies into pits. The gust spell also does the same…sometimes, when it feels like it, while the ice and fire spells feel woefully underpowered.

While some enemies are dumb enough to handle alone at times, Fatekeeper eventually ups the challenge by throwing multiple at you in later sections. The result is having to adopt a hit-and-run playstyle since attempting to stand your ground, blocking all attacks and counterattacking, isn’t always the best approach given your stamina. I could sometimes find appeal in this, especially when kicking Vrog into pits or pulling a rock thrower from afar and lining up for a homerun with a dual-hander.

But the combat still feels so slow and awkward, and I can’t for the life of me understand the logic behind the enemy archer’s design. Magic does nothing to stagger them, much less move them, and they deal extensive damage at a regular clip. It feels like they’re overcompensating to an annoying degree, given how much easier it is to deal with regular foes.

As you slay enemies, you’ll earn XP to level up and gain skill points. These can be invested in a massive skill tree with paths towards improving your alchemy skill, magic, health or melee damage. For some reason, however, investing in any one of these branches locks you off from the rest. I went with melee damage upgrades at first, with an alternate path that could boost attack speed, but couldn’t invest any points in improving my survivability, much less buffing magic. Worst of all, the game never explains why. So you’re stuck taking minimal buffs to attack speed, even when having more stamina and health would be beneficial.

"Fatekeeper certainly has potential, and despite how utterly railroaded the traversal can be, the environmental aesthetics really do stand out for their atmosphere and fidelity."

Otherwise, from a systems perspective, everything that’s here feels very foundational at best. Developer Paraglacial, a fairly small development team, can certainly build on all this and offer more expansive options beyond the simple blades and sorcery that everyone must adopt. But it first needs to make the actual mechanics of combat feel better, besides fixing bugs and other issues – like some enemies simply standing in place if there are multiple corpses at their feet simply because they don’t know how to go around. I also wouldn’t mind seeing more polish for the performance – even in the opening with DLSS set to Balanced and other settings on High, there would be various micro-stutters throughout, even when otherwise sticking to 60 FPS.

Fatekeeper certainly has potential, and despite how utterly railroaded the traversal can be, the environmental aesthetics really do stand out for their atmosphere and fidelity. For $10, with a 20 percent discount currently available for two weeks, the barrier to entry is certainly very low, and the team seems open to changing its plans for the sake of whatever players enjoy most. But even if you’re seeking a dungeon crawler with more grounded, methodical combat, it’s probably best to wait a while before diving into everything Fatekeeper currently has to offer.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Amid the ludicrous setup lie some rather familiar themes – the consequences of fame, whether it’s delusions of grandeur or selling out to whoever pays top dollar. You know, the usual. It’s all Charlie can do to remind his bandmates of what matters, both through words and by knocking some sense into them (and their seemingly infinite supply of groupies). However, there’s clearly more going on – like something discordant that could unravel everything.

However, by this point, you’re probably wondering: What is Dead as Disco anyway? To put it bluntly, it’s a Free Flow combat-style beat ’em up. Similar to the Batman Arkham games, dishing out a consistent degree of punishment to enemies will build up a combo (known as Beats). The key difference is that you’re encouraged to slay to the beat, whether it’s to increase the damage of certain moves, replenish your Takedown Tokens faster, or to net a higher score than everyone else, among other things.

It may seem overtly simple, but that’s the core appeal and how Dead as Disco has quickly built a name for itself through several playtests and demos, crossing one million wishlists on Steam. It’s launching on Steam Early Access on May 5th and offers four opponents to tussle across their unique stages. You can travel back to the central hub, known as The Encore, to decorate, converse with characters, and unlock new skills. Or you could venture into Infinite Disco and undertake challenges, fighting waves of enemies on any track without conditions or engage in an endless dance of brutality. When that’s not enough, you can import your own tunes and finely customize the beat timing. Like Audiosurf with fisticuffs, and it’s awesome.

From the menus right down to the animated stills and character designs, Dead as Disco oozes style. Its aesthetics are clearly in tune not just with the presented genres of music, but the mentalities of NPCs themselves. The AI, Arora, for example, offers a mix of starry backdrops and a boss phase that occurs on a planetary ring as you deflect stars back at her giant form. Hemlock is more grunge – a dimly lit, neon graffiti-infused subway where the tracks become an impromptu mosh pit. I don’t even know where to begin describing Dex’s levels, which feel like a fusion of brutalist architecture and desolate monochromatic landscapes.

It defies description at times, especially when you’re transitioning from one section to the next at breakneck pace, like a psychotropic music video. And yet, amid all this, visual clarity remains relatively clean, ensuring that you always know where the next threat is coming from (even if you haven’t mastered the muscle memory necessary to conquer them all). Even the little visual flourishes, like the word “Perfect” bursting forth in a spray of color from an enemy, or Charlie’s animations upon completing combos, add to the overall charm.

If you’ve played any of the Batman Arkham games, you’ll have a strong fundamental understanding of the combat. Press X to attack, Y to counter and A to dodge. When an opponent is dazed, press B for a finisher and once you’ve earned a Takedown Token, Y+B lets you execute it. Meanwhile, the Fever Bar is your ticket for unleashing abilities. A solid system and one that Dead as Disco takes to with relative ease, even if Charlie’s strikes may feel a bit weightier than expected. Of course, that window feels finely honed for several different purposes, whether it’s quickly transitioning into counters and perfect dodges, or properly timing your strikes to the beat.

But the best part is how it takes those fundamentals and adds its own unique abilities and nuances while still allowing for an extensive amount of freedom. Baseball sliding into enemies will launch them into the air; heavy kicks can send them into walls and set them up for finishers. Perfectly timed counters deal more damage; perfectly timed dodges into counters can lead to finishers. Finishers can provide a few seconds of invincibility, letting you avoid that charging headbanger or Riot Guard.

Sure, you could set up enemies for quick knockouts, clearing rooms with methodical finesse. But how about playing the drums on some poor sap’s face before knocking him out or tossing a drumstick from afar to keep a combo going while you sprint full force towards a target? The beat can serve as a strong guideline for how you should be timing those blows, but the nature of those hits is up to you. And if you’re a stickler for hitting to the beat, don’t worry – there are options for enabling a Beat Indicator and Beat Ring. You can even make it so that non-attacking enemies are indicated at all times.

Also, I can’t heap enough praise on the actual boss fights, even if it can be annoying to constantly sit through their cutscenes on subsequent retries without a skip button. Each of them feels mechanically unique, though you’ll have to get used to dealing with and dodging area-of-effect attacks. Arora, in particular, can get annoying since she’ll suddenly lob a projectile at you with little warning.

Defeating your ex-bandmates unlocks new attacks and skill trees, and while some upgrades, like extra hearts and Fever Bars, can feel straightforward, you can also transform certain abilities. Bass Invader, which sees Charlie swinging a guitar to knock back surrounding enemies, can become Super Bass Invader, where charging the attack results in a powerful ground slam that sends enemies up in the air. Considering you can only have four equipped at once, there’s definitely room for picking favorites, but you’re free to reset the skill trees at any time and play around with different options.

While its visuals are to die for, Dead as Disco would be nothing without some great music. There are over 25 tracks currently, and though your mileage may vary, I found Boom by bbno$ and the classic Maniac to perfectly fit the overall vibe. Even Arora’s original songs are pretty great, carrying a distinct K-Pop flavor.

Suffice to say, I really like Dead as Disco. Even in early access, it’s so polished, balancing style with substance while tapping into that aspect of mastery that made those Batman Arkham Challenge maps so immensely replayable. Even if there’s still a ways to go before the story is fully fleshed out, the amount of content is still pretty respectable at $25, whether you’re trying to master each chapter, complete all the challenges or rack up a high score in Infinite Disco. The fact that more abilities, customization options, challenges, bosses, skill trees, music, “the true end game”, and even co-op are also in the works is mind-boggling.

Charlie Disco may or may not find a resolution to all this, but one thing is for sure: The band’s getting back together and by the time Dead as Disco exits early access, it should be one for the ages. For now, however, it’s an excellent early access offering that masterfully blends 3D beat ’em up combat with some sick beats.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Turns out that it’s going to be quite busy, with new Idols (aka boss fights), fashion upgrades and Infinite Disco upgrades coming to you in three major updates spread out from June until the end of Summer. We begin with hotfixes in May, while June is slated to bring custom playlists to challenges, the ability to swap Arenas, new challenges and modifiers, and more that could extend the mode’s replay value even further. You can check out the entire list of upcoming additions here if you’re curious to see what’s in store for updates coming in the middle and end of Summer.

If you haven’t been keeping up with Dead as Disco, it involves stepping into the shoes of Charlie Disco as he takes on his former bandmates in an adventure that will have you grooving to some sick beats while partaking in some Free Flow-inspired combat. With some solid gameplay, a unique premise, and a very attractive visual style, this one might be the next big hit on the Billboards.

If you have played titles like S.T.A.L.K.E.R.  in the past, then you may have a rough idea of the gameplay systems that Road to Vostok has to offer. Think of it as a survival-sim roguelike, where each time you venture out into the unknown, you return with more plentiful bounties and a little more knowledge of what is out there and how to handle it.

First and foremost, I am pleased to report that despite Road to Vostok being an early access indie title, it ran buttery smooth for the most part on my rig. I experienced a frame rate dip once in a specific area, but overall, the technical performance is absolutely solid, especially considering it comes from a relatively unknown developer.

Antti Leinonen is the name of the solo developer responsible for Road to Vostok, and he has done a great job of making sure that his game runs well, so he has to be commended for that. Leinonen’s passion for both this genre and this part of the world shines through in every aspect of the experience. You can feel how much of his real-world lived experience and his personal gaming taste has been poured into this vision.

If you are looking for a layered, detailed narrative, then Road to Vostok likely won’t be the title for you. Other than a brief introduction to the game via a transistor radio, there isn’t much else here in terms of story, at least in its current state. Obviously, the game is still in early access and more plot elements may be added in the future, but at the time of writing, Road to Vostok is more concerned with atmosphere and mood.

In that regard, the game delivers in spades. The atmosphere in this game is thick, and the tension during certain moments could be cut with a knife. There have been horror games that haven’t made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up in the way that Road to Vostok has. So much of this atmosphere comes from the game’s sound design, which is utterly phenomenal.

The player starts off the game in a small cabin, which essentially acts as your operations hub for the duration of your time in post-apocalyptic Finland. You must venture out of your cabin for the first time with a limited selection of randomly generated supplies and weapons. From here, you are on your own. You will have to feed, rest, heal and hydrate your character while you explore to keep him in optimal condition.

Each run that you complete allows you to store your bounties and supplies from the outside world in your cabin’s storage units. When you sleep in bed, the game saves, meaning that if you head out again the following day and get killed, the only things you will lose are the items you are carrying on your person, but your stash will be saved for the next time you load up and head out.

Speaking of taking bullets, Road to Vostok’s gunplay is not the fast-paced experience you might expect from a first-person shooter. It is, however, extremely intense. The guns handle well and adhere to a strict realism in terms of their use. For example, to switch from automatic to semi-auto on an SMG, you must manually trigger the switch on the weapon, before loading it into a suitable magazine, and only then can you fire your weapon.

This level of realism also applies when you are on the receiving end of gunfire. Getting shot in this game is no joke. Even if you win the gunfight and sustain a gunshot, that wound will continue to bleed and your health will continue to deplete until you treat it with a bandage and your health won’t increase until you apply a tourniquet and take some medicine.

On top of this, you’ll need to remember to scavenge for food and juice to keep yourself fed and hydrated, as well as ensuring your character gets plenty of rest. This level of detailed realism is what takes Road to Vostok from being a survival FPS, to something closer to a life-sim rogue-like. It is also the element most likely to put more casual players off the game.

This is a shame, because there are some really great moments to experience in Road to Vostok, even in its current early access state. As I have alluded to several times, the enemy encounters in the game can be extremely thrilling and nail-biting. These cat and mouse moments are so exhilarating that they are worth the price of admission alone.

Road to Vostok is at its peak when you are crouched with your gun drawn, listening carefully for footsteps as you and the enemy stalk each other through a cramped, abandoned home. Leaning around corners to check for camping enemies while you hold your breath and get ready to squeeze the trigger is a rush every time. The scarcity of ammo makes these life-or-death moments even more twitchy and consequential.

Hopefully, more will be added to the game over time. Some Last of Us-style environmental storytelling would feel right at home in the post-apocalyptic world of Road to Vostok, maybe in the form of notes or diaries the player could discover. It would be really cool to learn more about what caused the brutal, survival-of-the-fittest nature that is required to thrive in this harsh apocalypse.

Perhaps you could uncover the source of the EMP blast that destroyed electronics across the region. Maybe looting, reloading, healing, and eating animations could be added, while enemies could be given more personality and individual backstories instead of feeling like generic bandits. Taking the life of a fellow survivor in circumstances similar to the player’s would carry far more weight than killing yet another nameless bot.

Even so, the high points of the game vastly outweigh the lacklustre ones. Antti Leinonen has done a phenomenal job crafting an experience that feels vast, intense, harsh, and full of potential. At its $15 asking price, Road to Vostok is well worth checking out. Hopefully enough players are willing to stick with the harsh learning curve that the game presents and are not turned off by the relentless, unforgiving nature of the gunplay and enemy AI.

Road to Vostok may be a solo-developed indie game, but its future looks extremely bright, and the foundations already in place give it enormous potential. If you are looking for a tense, gritty, realistic world to jump into and act out your rural survivalist fantasies, then you could do a lot worse than Road to Vostok.

This game was reviewed on PC.

The story puts you in control of Charlie Disco, a man who has clearly practised his martial arts as much as his music. He takes on his former band members in battles where he lets his fists do the rapping (pun intended). Aside from raining down pain to the beat of his own tunes, Charlie can work with anything you have on your playlists, too, and this is a title that we’re eager to push to its musical limits.

Additionally, you get to hang out at a dive bar that doubles up as your base of operations while also serving as a source of lore drops, taking you through how things soured between Charlie and his former band. With combat flowing to the beats of whatever’s playing in the background, consider bringing a metronome to this one.

For our part, we’re going to be playing Kung Fu Fighting on loop as we show our former bandmates what’s what. The trailer’s below for those of you who want a taste of its neon-drenched visuals and insane gameplay.