Earlier today, Google announced Stadia, their bid for the gaming market, and a streaming-only game platform. They managed to announce a game platform without actually announcing many games for it, though they did bring on some developers and publishers on stage as proponents of the upcoming service.

These include id Software and Ubisoft—of course, since we already knew it would. Tequila Softworks, the folks behind RIME, also came on stage to demo a feature (from which it follows that they may end up being a supporter of Stadia in the future). Q-Games, the Japanese based developer, was also on stage.

Google confirmed during its keynote that it sent development kits for Stadia to over 100 developers, and that it is now accepting applications from other developers for dev kits, should they want them, so what we see right now is probably not all of it. And having id and Ubisoft on your side is a good start, if nothing else.

RIME launched after a very long and troubled development period last year, and was mostly worth the long wait, being a good puzzle adventure game with a startling art style and meditative gameplay. However, because of the way the game was, it is also hard to see how a follow up to it would ever happen- can there even be a narrative sequel to RIME?

There cannot- at least, developers Tequila are not considering one, anyway. In an interview with Eurogamer, CEO, Creative Director and Co-Founder of Tequila Works Raúl Rubio Munárriz said that were a follow up to RIME ever happen, it would be a spiritual successor rather than a direct follow up. The point, in any case, is moot for now, since Tequila doesn’t intend to get started on it any time soon.

“We know how to make a sequel to Rime, but it wouldn’t literally be Rime 2 – more like a spiritual successor to Rime,” he said. “But are we going to make it? I don’t know. Maybe one day we can come back but for now it’s too soon – anyone who has finished Rime, maybe they’ll understand why. For us, it was a very very big journey and it was very intense.”

Which makes sense- as I said, and as Munárriz says, a direct follow up to RIME doesn’t actually make that much sense. I would be interested to see what a spiritual follow up to the game would look like at all. RIME is available now on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Tequila and Cavalier’s The Sexy Brutale, the fantastic murder mystery with the unique mechanical and narrative twist, that released earlier this year, will be coming to the Nintendo Switch next week, Tequila confirmed.

“We are very glad to bring The Sexy Brutale to Nintendo Switch as we think this title will please a lot of the Switch owners. This is a great adventure to see that our first published title has been so well received and can now be played on Switch,” Raúl Rubio, CEO & Creative Director at Tequila Works said of the port, a sentiment that was echoed by Charles Griffiths, Design Director at Cavalier Game Studios as well.

“It’s a dream come true to see our game released on a Nintendo platform, and we hope this flings open the doors of The Sexy Brutale for a whole new audience.”

Given the nature of the game, it is singularly well suited to the Switch; additionally, the Switch has been proven to have an exceptionally vibrant and engaged install base that buys great games if they are available on the platform.

Indie game developers have borne the brunt of this success, with the Switch becoming a gold mine of sorts for them. The Sexy Brutale is a unique game unlike any other on the system, so it should see a fair amount of success, too.

RIME is finally out- the gorgeous puzzle platforming adventure game has been a long time coming, but now that it is finally here, players can, at last, play the game and experience for themselves a game that has been long in the making.

Of course, unlike so many other games today, RIME is not afraid to challenge the player, or to let the player get lost, or to let the player discover things for themselves. In fact, that is one of the best parts of the game, the sense of discovery, and the ensuing personal journey. So it is highly advisable that, should you feel stuck, lost, or frustrated in RIME, you take your time to figure things out for yourself. However, should you find yourself unable to progress, and it comes down to either playing the game with help, or not playing it at all, you’ll want a walkthrough.

That’s where we come in here. Just… remember to only use this as a last resort, okay?

RIME is a hugely anticipated puzzle adventure game due out later this year on the Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch- but there was a bit of a furore created a while back when publishers Grey Box had announced that the Switch version of the game will be costing $10 more digitally and at retail than the other versions of the game.

The price hike was seen to be unnecessary, and frustrated a lot of people who thought that the game, which ordinarily would be primed for success on a Nintendo system, would see its success stunted as a result of this decision.

Now, in a new blog post on the matter, Grey Box have revealed that the digital version of RIME will cost exactly the same as the game costs on other platforms. The physical version will retain its $10 price hike (because of cartridge manufacturing costs, it sounds like), but will come with a free code to the game’s OST.

“At Grey Box, we are determined to provide a fair deal for everyone around. And so we discussed how we could do that, without simply selling at a loss, all while also being fair to our retail partners. So, here’s what we’re doing,” they said in the blog post announcing the pricing change.

“First off, the digital version of RIME on Nintendo Switch will now cost $29.99 / €34.99 / £29.99, the same price as the game on other platforms. So, that’s straightforward enough. On the physical side, we can’t lower the price without selling at a loss, but we can add more value to the package. And that’s what we’re doing. For the Nintendo Switch version of RIME, all physical copies will include a printed code for a download of the complete, beautiful soundtrack by David García (a sample of which you can find here). You will be able to download the music via Bandcamp in one of the multiple high-quality formats. The soundtrack is planned on being sold separately for $10 in the US (and equivalent prices elsewhere), and so the value you’re going to get out of this will be the same as somebody who purchased a different version of RIME, and then bought the soundtrack.”

This is a sensible solution to the problem, and it should make Switch owners who were interested in the game happy. RIME launches on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC on May 26, with the Switch release coming later in the Summer.

The long awaited RIME will launch this May at last- today, Tequila Softworks confirmed that the game will be made available on May 26 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The game will be available digitally and at retail, and will cost $29.99 / €34.99 / £29.99.

But wait, I hear you all say- what about the Switch version? After all, the game was announced for Nintendo’s new system too, wasn’t it? It was even showcased and highlighted in Nintendo’s indie showcase for the Switch. So what about that Switch version?

It’s coming- but a little later. The Switch version of the game will be launching later in the summer (‘shortly afterwards’, it sounds like), and will cost $39.99 / €44.99 / £39.99. It, too, will be available physically and digitally- but why it will be more expensive is not yet known.

Will you be picking RIME up? Which version are you looking at getting? Make sure to let us know in the comments section below.

Rime was recently re-announced, as a multiplatform game now due for release in May this year. Whatever the reason for its temporary disappearance from the public eye, Rime looks to be every bit as great, promising, intriguing, and charming now as it did back when it was originally announced as a PS4 exclusive- which is why we can’t stop obsessing over every new bit of media that we get for the game.

Take this new video, for instance, which shows off the first 27 minutes of gameplay for the game- the footage shows off the game’s excellent artstyle, some amazing animations, as well as gameplay, showing some good level design, good puzzles, and a general sense of just how the player will be able to interact with their surroundings.

Rime is going to be launching later this year, in May, for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. You can check out the new video in question below.

Rime looks absolutely incredible- yesterday, we got to see the game in action again, after its re-reveal, and we got the good bit of news that the game is closet than we think (it is launching in May this year), and that it will no longer be a PS4 exclusive. Instead, it will be hitting Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC alongside the PS4, meaning everyone can play and enjoy it.

Even more good news- the game won’t just be restricted to getting a digital launch, either. You can pick yourself up a retail copy of it, should you want to. Amazon and Best Buy are both listing physical versions of the game for $29.99, with a May 9 release date; while you would do well to take this with a grain of salt, all of it checks out well enough that it might be true. No physical version for the Nintendo Switch version of the game is yet listed, although that is probably because Switch products are not going to be put up for order until after Nintendo’s event next week.

Rime will launch in May 2017 for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC; let us know what you think of the game in the comments section below, and stay tuned for more coverage and information.

Remember the gorgeous Rime? The puzzle platformer game, in the vein of classics such as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and ICO? That game was originally announced exclusively for PS4, before it disappeared off the face of the earth for a while. It’s still around, and it is coming sooner than you might think- in a brand new trailer released today (courtesy of IGN), Tequila revealed that the game will be launching in May 2017.

That’s not the only bit of good news, either- apparently the title will now no longer be PS4 exclusive. Instead, the game is now going to be hitting the Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC in addition to the PS4. All of this news accompanied a pretty sweet brand new trailer for the game, which you can see for yourself below.

Does this trailer reignite your excitement for the game? Will you look into getting it? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

The historic trouble that Nintendo have had with their systems has been third party support- for some reason or the other, Nintendo have had trouble attracting, and then retaining, as much third party support for their systems as their competition.

A lot of this has been attributed to Nintendo’s style of conducting business as a platform owner versus PlayStation or Xbox. Put simply, Nintendo prioritizes its own in house development, with third party support being considered ancillary- a far cry from Sony or Microsoft making third party support a primary consideration with their platforms.

However, maybe this understanding has been wrong. GamingBolt recently had the chance to sit down and talk to José Herráez, who handles PR for Tequila Works, of RIME fame. While talking to him, we had the chance to broach the topic of Nintendo and the upcoming NX.

“Nintendo has always surprised us in a good way, even if the sales of the Wii U haven’t been that brilliant as the sales of the former Wii were,” he mused, when asked about the NX, and its chances of success in the market. “But I have every reason to be excited about what Nintendo will come out with the NX. And I am really looking forward to more information about the console.”

When asked about the challenges that a console-handheld hybrid, which the NX is often rumored to be, would pose for third party game development, Herráez was surprisingly candid, painting a picture of third party relations with Nintendo that seem to defy previous stereotypes.

“Well, [a console-handheld hybrid] would be a really interesting proposition,” he said. “At this moment, I cannot be sure about how that would influence third party development, because we have seen literally nothing of the console. I have the very same information as you do. But it could- I’m sure that, being Nintendo, they will not only come put with a console that can do certain things, but also with a plan about how to make it work. They have always been – in my past experience working for other companies, such as Codemasters and Sega – they have always been very supportive of third party companies, and how they work with their platforms. And I expect that to be the case again.”

There are two takeaways from this- it sounds like Nintendo’s relations with third parties may not be as strained as is commonly understood. At the same time, and a bit conversely, it also sounds like Nintendo have so far not taken all third parties into confidence with the NX- certainly not Tequila Works. If so, then, at least as far as the system’s conception goes, it does sound like they have yet again designed a system for themselves. It may just be that third parties happen to really like it this time around.