[PATREON UNLOCK] Update Patch - December 2025

Update Patch News Roundup (08/12/25)

Welcome back to your weekly installment of Update Patch. With snow falling and sleigh bells ringing, what could possibly go wrong this week? Wait a minute, Netflix bought what?! Oh boy, here we go again.

Netflix To Buy Warner Bros In $82.7 Billion Deal

Netflix has announced that it is purchasing Warner Bros. (including HBO Max and HBO) from what was previously Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc., for about $82.7 billion. This is despite Paramount Skydance (and its CEO, David Ellison) making an aggressive play for all of Warner Bros. Discovery, only to come up short. (Its lawyers called the deal “a tilted and unfair process” in a leaked letter.)

The Warner Bros. umbrella includes multiple properties across film (Mad Max: Fury Road, The Matrix), television (The Sopranos, Adventure Time), and comics (the DC stable, including characters like Batman and Wonder Woman). This also includes Warner Bros. Games, which has published such titles as Batman: Arkham Asylum and the Mortal Kombat series.

It remains to be seen what plans Netflix might have for these titles, considering that the studio has struggled to crack the games market. Its best original title, Poinpy, left the Netflix Games platform this June. Meanwhile, the original founders of the studio Spry Fox (Cozy Grove) bought it back from Netflix this December.

Will the Epic Games Store Sell Horses On Its Platform? Neigh!

Santa Ragione’s independent horror game Horses continues to stir up dust in the industry. After being banned by Steam, it was rejected from the Epic Game Store just a day before it was due to launch. This ban was so last minute that several reviewers actually played the game on that platform. The game was also temporarily removed from the Humble Store, although it was reinstated soon after. It is now the second best-selling title on GOG, right under Total War: Medieval II - Definitive Edition.

Why is there so much fuss about this game? There’s the content, which is distressing, although no more so than horror works in other mediums like prose (Allison Rumfitt’s novel Brainwyrms) or film (Skinamarink). There’s Steam’s own past history of contradictory bans, like forbidding the dungeon-crawling RPG Dungeon Travellers 2 while allowing actual porn game Demons Roots on the platform. (No shade towards Demons Roots, mind.) 

Then there’s the current state of things in the United States, where Steam and the Epic Games Store operate. Conservatives run the government. Age verification laws have led sites like Pornhub to block access across 23 states. And Mastercard and Visa pushed the indie game store platform Itch to remove several adult games from its site in July. These struggles are playing out globally as well; our UK readership is likely familiar with the Online Safety Act implemented this July.

Despite those who say these laws are meant to protect children, in reality, they are enabling a surveillance state. Thus, it is no surprise that video games like Horses are now under the eye of the panopticon. Just because it’s an all-seeing eye, though, doesn’t mean that it has good judgement, or that its survival is inevitable.

Micron Shutters Crucial Consumer Brand In Favor Of Selling To Generative AI Data Centers

Micron announced that it will no longer sell consumer-grade memory or storage through its Crucial brand. Thanks to “AI-driven growth in the data center” leading to “a surge of demand…” says Chief Business Officer Sumit Sadana, the company plans to “exit the Crucial consumer business in order to improve supply and support for our larger, strategic customers in faster-growing segments.” Micron will continue to ship its consumer products until February 2025.

Per ShackNews, “RAM, storage, and other computer products…have seen skyrocketing demand thanks to the AI boom, as these products are used to power data centers.” Therefore, Micron hopes to sell its products solely to data centers so that it might profit from the boom. Unfortunately, this will heighten the current consumer RAM shortage as well as increase prices. Ars Technica reports that “a typical 32GB DDR5 RAM kit that cost around $82 in August now sells for about $310,” while “DRAM contract prices have increased 171 percent year over year.” As companies like Sony and Nintendo sell through console stock that was assembled with RAM bought a few months ago over the winter holidays, it’s likely this will only become worse before it gets better, and the same is true for basically any other consumer electronics with RAM in it

The Best of 2025 Avalanche Begins

Publications across the internet (at least, those that still exist) are releasing roundup lists of the best games for 2025. Examples include NPR, Vulture, and Rolling Stone, as well as enthusiast sites like GamesRadar and Inverse. Of course, the sheer number of games coming out right now ensures that many of the best titles will never find their way to these lists at all. Even so, I was heartened by the fact that NPR featured many smaller titles (Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo, Despelote, Look Outside) alongside megahits like Clair Obscur and Silent Hill f. I also enjoyed Lucas White’s typically idiosyncratic Best RPGs list for Inverse this year. (Stray Children! House of Necrosis! Crescent Tower! Excellent.)

Tim Cain Un-Retires, Begins Full-Time Work At Obsidian

Game developer Tim Cain has announced via his YouTube channel that he has returned to full-time work at Obsidian. “I can’t talk about the project I’m working on at Obsidian,” he said. “Don’t bother guessing, you’re not going to guess right.” While he no longer will be working freelance elsewhere, he did say that “there’s at least one game I worked on” outside the studio “that I know is going to ship,” either next year or the year after that.

Tim Cain is best known for his role as producer, designer, and lead programmer on the influential 1997 computer RPG Fallout. After leaving Interplay for Troika Games, he led the development of cult classics Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magic Obscura and The Temple of Elemental Evil. His most recent role was directing The Outer Worlds at Obsidian, reuniting with friends from his time at Interplay and Troika.

Creative Assembly Announces Total War: Medieval III At Total War - 25th Anniversary Showcase

During an hour-long anniversary showcase for the long-running Total War series of strategy games, developer Creative Assembly announced that Total War: Medieval III is now in pre-production. This new game returns to the Middle Ages, which the developer previously explored in Medieval: Total War (2002) and its sequel (2006.) Pawel Wojs, long-time artist at Creative Assembly and project art director for the critically acclaimed Total War: Three Kingdoms, is set to direct Total War: Medieval III for the first time in his career.

Creative Assembly also announced Lord of the End Times, a new DLC for Total War: Warhammer III featuring the undead lord Nagash and three other characters. It also teased a third, secret project to be announced at the Game Awards. For further information about the studio’s past and present, I recommend Len Hafer’s interview with the team at PC Gamer.

Arrowhead Pairs With Nixxes Software To Decrease Install Size of Helldivers 2 On PC By 130 GB

Eagle-eyed fans will have noticed that installation sizes (especially for PC) have been trending upwards over the years. While 50+ gigabyte downloads were once the norm, blockbuster games these days, like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Forza Horizon 5, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor often cross the 100+ GB mark.

Helldivers 2 is a fascinating example of this trend. It takes up a mere 35 GB on the PS5 thanks to the magic of its SSD. On PC, though, it was 150 GB. In a Steam blog post, developer Arrowhead explained that the size difference was due to file duplication in the PC version, meant to speed up load times when run on an HDD drive.

Thanks to the help of Dutch studio Nixxes Software, though, Arrowhead was able to reduce the size of the PC version of Helldivers from 150 GB to just 23 GB–even lower than the previous version of the game available on PS5! While the studio initially worried that cutting duplication would make “loading times for mechanical HDDs 10 times slower,” it did not find this to be the case in testing. Cutting installation size is not a one-size-fits-all method; notably, Arrowhead notes that “the majority of the loading time in Helldivers 2 is due to level-generation rather than asset loading.” But I can’t help but wonder just how many other games might benefit from this approach. I only have so much space on my own SSD, after all.

Sci-Fi Horror Thriller Routine Lands After A 13 Year Wait

Routine’s development was anything but routine. First announced in 2012 at Gamescom, the project was then relaunched a decade later with the help of Ion Fury. In the process, development switched from Unreal Engine 4 to 5, necessitating that the team at Lunar Software redo all of its work. Of course, according to a message from the developers, the team wasn’t happy with the state of the project anyway. So it’s more accurate to say that the game that exists right now was made in the years following the collapse and rebirth of Routine 1.0.

Even so, Routine is out, and according to the reviews, it’s quite good! Let that be a reminder that making art is not always a linear process. Despite the great expense of video game development, sometimes you have to work your way through dead ends before landing on something that you can be happy with. I hope that the developers at Lunar Software, and anybody they’ve worked with in the past, are relieved that they can finally move on from this.

Game Awards Host Geoff Keighley Teases Mysterious, Glowing Desert Statue

When he isn’t running The Game Awards or utilising talented young marginalized people as “props,” former games journalist Geoff Keighley is quite a trickster. To wit, he posted the words “regal.inspiring.thickness” on X along with a picture of a strange statue. Lo and behold, this turned out to be a real statue delivered to Joshua Tree National Park that glows in the dark and makes sounds.

What could this statue be advertising? Could it be Half-Life 3? Another Doom title? Or a totally out-of-left-field pick, like a new Larian game or something? Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier knows what it is, but he’s not telling–for now. Nicole Carpenter, on the other hand, suggested for Kotaku that “Keighley is simply himself opening a portal to hell and intends to destroy the whole dang world.” On the other hand, it may not matter what the statue is or why it’s there. “People might not remember whatever the statue ends up being for,” she wrote. “But they’ll tune into the Game Awards to find out.”

Update Patch News Roundup (15/12/25)

Welcome back to Update Patch. This week we saw the newest installment of the most important award ceremony in video games. It’s a celebration of what matters most in the culture: creativity, collaboration, history, and outside-the-box thinking. In this time of unease, no other event did as much to ground me in what’s happening now and where we are going. That’s right, I’m talking about…

Cacowards Celebrates Its 32nd Year Of Dooming

That’s right, baby!! December 10th saw the 32nd iteration of the Cacowards, the Doom modding community’s longest-running award ceremony. As usual, this event united various developers, players, and critics to discuss their favorite mods and wads (fan-made level packs) of the year. Winners included the enormous and immaculately detailed Gossip, the vaporwave-influenced Neon Overdrive, and the truly indescribable Blues Brothers 2025. (“You think you know what this mapset is,” wrote NotJabba of the latter, “but you don’t.) 

While just twelve wads won the coveted Gold Cacoward, many others were singled out for praise. Aside from 14 Silver Cacowards, the Cacowards handed out 25 honorable mentions, various awards for original soundtracks, gameplay modifications, and multiplayer maps, and two Espi Awards for lifetime achievement to Mike “Manc” Lightner and Ralph “Ralphis” Vickers.

That might sound like a lot. But in reality, the Cacowards represent just a fraction of the Doom community in all its immensity. NotJabba writes in the opening paragraphs about the “increased frustrations people feel as a higher percentage of the ever-growing output of WADcraft falls under the public radar.” With development moving from forums to community Discords and social media networks, how could anybody hope to keep track? I admire the Cacowards and its stewards for working so hard year after year to accomplish that impossible task.

Tekken’s Katsuhiro Harada Leaves Bandai Namco At The End Of 2025

Katsuhiro Harada announced on December 8th via X that he is leaving Bandai Namco at the end of this year. “In recent years, I experienced the loss of several close friends in my personal life,” he wrote. “In my professional life I witnessed the retirement or passing of many senior colleagues whom I deeply respect.” After meeting with Ken Kutaragi, the creator of the PlayStation, for advice, Harada made the decision to move on to something new. “To everyone who has supported me, to communities around the world, and to all the colleagues who have walked alongside me for so many years,” Harada wrote, “I offer my deepest gratitude.”

Harada is best known today for his involvement with the long-running 3D fighting game series Tekken, on which he served as producer for nearly 30 years. He’s also one of his generation’s best communicators. While not unbiased, his posts on social media in both English and Japanese tell behind-the-scenes stories about game development (like his history with Team Ninja leader Tomonobu Itagaki) that you can’t find anywhere else. 

Harada’s final job as producer will be performing an hour-long DJ mix—“TEKKEN: A 30-Year Journey – Harada’s Final Mix”—at TWT Finals in January 2026. 

id Software Developers Unionize With Communications Workers Of America

Developers at id Software, the studio behind Doom 2016, announced on December 12th that they had formed the union Local 6215 with Communications Workers of America (CWA.) “It’s incredibly important that developers across the industry unite to push back on all the unilateral workplace changes that are being handed down from industry executives,” said producer and organizing committee member Andrew Willis in the union’s official statement. 

id Software is just the latest studio at ZeniMax to unionize after its parent company, Microsoft, acquired Activision-Blizzard in 2022. Other unions within ZeniMax include ZeniMax Workers United-CWA, formed by QA testers at ZeniMax Online Studios, and OneBGS, consisting of Bethesda Studios staff members in Bethesda, Austin, and Dallas in the United States, as well as Montreal in Canada.

The Game Awards Presents Game Changers Award To Girls Make Games

The Game Awards presented its Game Changer Award to Girls Make Games, an organization founded in 2014 by Laila Shabir and Ish Syed to “inspire the next generation of designers, creators, and engineers.” The official website of Girls Make Games says that it has “reached 8,100 girls through workshops and camps, and over 27,000 through tutorials, games, and resources.” The award was presented on stage by Felicia Day, who called it “one of the most impactful organizations uplifting girls today, and one that I’m honored to represent as an ambassador.” 

Two “members of the community,” game development camper Ellie Freeman and college scholarship recipient Monica Paredes, were invited on stage to discuss their work as well as their hopes for the future. Freeman discussed a horror game that she made with three friends, Paper Trail, which won the Grand Prize at the camp. (In a memorable turn, Day asked Ellie, “Do you have turnips in your game?”) Paredes, on the other hand, had this message for girls hoping to make their own games: “If you’re someone out there with an interest in making games: explore it, give it a shot. You never know where your interests will take you, and there’s a ton of amazing programs like Girls Make Games that want to see you succeed.” 

Mysterious Romero Games Project Earns Second Chance At Life

Earlier this year, Brenda Romero (of Romero Games) announced via X that her studio’s publisher had “cancelled funding for our game along with several other unannounced projects at other studios.” Despite initial reports that Romero Games had closed, it managed to survive, with the studio claiming that it had “been contacted by several publishers interested in helping us bring the game over the finish line.” Then, said Eurogamer, John Romero (likewise of Romero Games) recently announced at Salón del Videojuego de Madrid that they had secured funding for a new title which recycles ideas from that earlier project, even though it has “been basically completely redesigned.”

The team for this new game is much smaller than the old one. Romero said that “the people working on it are all directors from different departments, and they didn't actually get to the code or design or whatever to do it themselves, but now we get to actually do that.” If the folks remaining are directors, I have to wonder what happened to everybody else. Still, I’m happy to see that John and Brenda Romero’s team still has a chance, especially considering how many other projects have been cancelled this year.

Desert Hell Statue Revealed As Teaser For Divinity, Larian Studios’ New Game

We finally know what was up with that cursed statue in the desert last week: it was an advertisement for Divinity, the next game by Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios. A new CG trailer painted a familiar picture for longtime fans. As a man (perhaps a Source user?) is burned at the stake in the midst of a celebration, his broken body unleashes corruption that perverts the earth and freezes the townspeople in eternal torment. It’s a gruesome sequence, worthy of comparison to Larian’s infamous illthid transformation trailer for Baldur’s Gate 3. Somebody at the studio is clearly a fan of body horror!

Per RPGSite, Larian founder Sven Vinke wrote in a press release that “this marks the beginning of something with more breadth, depth, and intimacy than anything we’ve created before...this is the Divinity we’ve always wanted to make, and you're going to have loads of fun with it.”  Otherwise, we don’t know yet whether this new game will be turn-based in the vein of the Divinity: Original Sin games, or an action-adventure game like Divinity II: Ego Draconis. With the success of Baldur’s Gate 3, a proudly turn-based game, my guess would be the former.

While I’m excited for this upcoming project, it’s worth noting that every Larian game since at least the first Divinity: Original Sin has been a risky endeavor, with Original Sin in particular nearly bankrupting the studio. Time will tell whether Divinity manages to recapture Baldur’s Gate 3’s lightning, or if fans of Dungeons & Dragons will follow them there if they do. Then again, Dungeons & Dragons necessitates its own compromises. If there’s any independent studio out there with the freedom to do whatever they want, Larian is probably it.

Ace Combat 8: Wings Of Theve Takes Flight In 2026

Bandai Namco announced that Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, the newest installment in the Ace Combat series, is coming to PS5, PC, and Xbox in 2026. Per a press release, the player will take on the role of the titular Wings of Theve, “a legendary ace…and a symbol of hope for every citizen in their homeland.” Don’t assume a straightforward narrative, though; the trailer suggests that the Wings of Theve is nothing but “a mass delusion fabricated by the rumor mill of social media.” That’s about what I’d expect from this series, which has always had greater narrative ambitions than you’d expect from a flight sim. (The third Ace Combat game, Electrosphere, inspired Nier: Automata director Yoko Taro’s own work.)

A report at Automaton Media provided new information from an interview with Ace Combat director Kazutoki Kono and producer Manabu Shimomoto in Famitsu. (The full interview was also translated by fans at Encyclopaedia Strangereal.) According to them, Ace Combat 8 will feature first-person real-time cutscenes (in which the player can look around as they please) as well as better cloud visuals thanks to “Bandai Namco Aces’s new proprietary cloud engine Cloudly.” The team hopes to keep the identity of the series intact (including a script by anime director Sunao Katabuchi, who previously worked on Ace Combat 4, 5, and 7) while updating its presentation to be more accessible to a wide audience. 

Control Resonant Tells Dylan’s Side Of The Story

Remedy Entertainment announced that Control Resonant, the sequel to its beloved action-adventure game Control, is coming to PS5, Xbox, and PC in 2026. While the previous game in the series had the player control Jesse, the director of the Federal Bureau of Control, this new entry will put them in the shoes of Jesse’s brother Dylan. This time, a supernatural threat has broken containment to transform Manhattan. It’s up to Dylan to restore the city to normal. His greatest tool for this purpose (says a PlayStation press release) is the Aberrant, “a shapeshifting melee weapon that transforms on demand” as opposed to Jesse’s Service Weapon.

The press release asserts that Control Resonant functions as a stand-alone narrative, rather than requiring that you play Control first. “Both games stand firmly on their own, like two siblings, featuring distinctive and independent journeys through a strange, ever evolving paranatural universe.” Of course, that’s exactly what they want you to think, considering that Remedy Entertainment has become famous not just for its entertaining writing but for the mysterious, larger universe tying its games together. While I don’t know what to make of Dylan taking the lead rather than Jesse, hopefully, Resonant will live up to the critical acclaim that greeted 2023’s Alan Wake 2.

Coven Of The Chicken Foot Brewing At Wildflower Interactive

Former The Last of Us co-director Bruce Straley is developing a new game, Coven of the Chicken Foot, at Wildflower Interactive for PC. The trailer depicts an old woman and a mysterious creature as they navigate strange environments together. I was reminded immediately of The Last Guardian, the long-in-development adventure game led by Fumito Ueda. That said, in an interview at Polygon with Giovanni Colantonio, Straley said that the inspiration for the partner mechanic actually came from his own experience working on companion characters, like The Last of Us heroine Ellie.

Coven of the Chicken Foot does not yet have a release date. That said, I’m definitely intrigued by the hints Staley drops in that Polygon feature, like  “who the fuck resurrects Ganondorf between every Zelda game!?” I also appreciate that the protagonist is an old woman with a large chin and undefined powers, rather than a traditional video game hero.

Deconstructeam And Selkie Harbor Team Up For Virtue Of A Sledgehammer

Deconstructeam, the studio behind fan-favorite narrative games like The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood and The Red Strings Club, is collaborating with Selkie Harbor for its new title, Virtue and a Sledgehammer, at Devolver Digital for PC release in 2026. This will be a narrative game in which (to quote the Steam page) the player explores “the remains of your hometown haunted by the android ghosts of your digitized neighbors.” Their method of interaction is, of course, a sledgehammer. Unlike Deconstructeam’s earlier 2D games, Virtue and a Sledgehammer is rendered in the 3D style characteristic of past Selkie Harbor projects like Many Nights a Whisper and Fit in Bed. I’m definitely curious to see how Deconstructeam and Selkie Harbor’s distinctive flavors combine in this new game.

Crystal Dynamics Presents The Past And Future Of Tomb Raider

Crystal Dynamics announced not just one but two new Tomb Raider games. The first, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, is “a stunning reimagining of the 1996 genre-defining game” developed in Unreal Engine 5 in collaboration with Flying Wild Hog (Shadow Warrior, Evil West). It’s reportedly set for release on PS5, Xbox and PC in 2026. The second, Tomb Raider: Catalyst, is a new, original adventure scheduled for a 2027 release on the aforementioned consoles.

The last three major games of the Tomb Raider series have been the “Survivor Trilogy”, starting with Tomb Raider in 2013. These were prequels that reimagined series heroine Lara Croft as an ordinary woman fighting for her life rather than the wisecracking heroine of earlier titles. Tomb Raider: Catalyst (per GamesRadar) will take place after the events of Tomb Raider: Underworld, and is likely Crystal Dynamics’ attempt to combine the more restrained storytelling of the Survivor trilogy with the zany pulp fiction feel of her 2000s period.

Of course, fans never abandoned the earlier style of Tomb Raider; the release of the Tomb Raider Level Editor in 2000 birthed an amateur development scene that remains active even today. It will be very interesting to see how Crystal Dynamics’ take on this era of Tomb Raider compares with that of its audience.

Update Patch News Roundup (22/12/25)

This week on Update Patch, we have: generative AI. Is it good? Is it bad? Employees and fans seem to be convinced of the latter, while their bosses advocate for the former. Meanwhile, Silksong makes clowns of us all, studio founders step away for new gigs, and some beloved (and not so beloved) past classics rise from the grave.

Larian Spit-Roasted Online After CEO Admits To “Pushing Hard” On Generative AI

Just a week after Divinity, the new project by Larian, was announced via a luxurious CGI trailer at the Game Awards, the studio found itself in hot water thanks to a Bloomberg interview between journalist Jason Schreier and Larian CEO Sven Vinke. Vinke said in the interview that “Larian has been pushing hard on generative AI” and that studio staff “often use AI tools to explore ideas, flesh out PowerPoint presentations, develop concept art and write placeholder text.” When asked if everybody at Larian was happy with this, Vinke responded that “at this point everyone at the company is more or less OK with the way we’re using it.”

Vinke’s words were rebuked online not just by fans and journalists, but by former Larian employees. “It's incredibly ironic of Larian bosses to push GenAI after positioning themselves as the good studio in a see [sic] of assholes,” said @GangstHannah (who was a QA on previous Larian games like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Divinity Original Sin 2) via X. Selena Tobin, previously an environment artist on Baldur’s Gate 3, posted via Bluesky that she “loved working at [Larian] until AI. reconsider and change your direction, like, yesterday.”

Soon, though, the wave of viral social media frustration grew to encompass more than just generative AI. Game developer Zoe Quinn criticized the studio for making “people emigrate to work there because you don’t do remote work,” ensuring that their job security is contingent on following the company line. Narrative designer Bruno Dias wrote that “Larian's horrible hiring process is an open secret in the industry…everyone in games narrative circles has heard the stories at this point, probably from multiple people.” Or, in the words of Julie Muncy: “folks audition writers like they're training kpop stars.”

Vinke initially responded to the backlash on X with, “Holy fuck guys we’re not "pushing hard" for or replacing concept artists with AI…we use AI tools to explore references, just like we use google and art books.” He also linked to an April interview with GameSpot where he discussed the studio’s incorporation of “machine learning.” Since then, the studio announced that it will “do an AMA featuring our different departments after the holiday break, in which you’ll get the opportunity to ask us any questions you have about Divinity and our dev process directly.”

What to make of all this? First, despite Larian’s appealing underdog story, it is clearly a games studio like any other with its own managerial and cultural problems to work out. Second, the fact that Larian is a private corporate entity rather than public company does nothing to protect its employees from Vinke’s choices. As Bryant Francis wrote at Gamesindustry.biz, “what we are witnessing with this backlash is a test of leadership—a high-profile version of a test playing out at studios across the globe.” 

Indie Game Awards Retracts Debut Game And Game Of The Year Awards For 2025

The Indie Game Awards announced via Bluesky as well as its official website that it has retracted the awards for Debut Game and Game of the Year previously awarded to Sandfall Interactive for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. This is because of the studio’s use of generative AI to produce art assets, some of which were found in the game (and were swiftly, wordlessly replaced) when it shipped in April. “The Indie Game Awards have a hard stance on the use of gen AI throughout the nomination process and during the ceremony itself,” says the IGA website. “When it was submitted for consideration, a representative of Sandfall Interactive agreed that no gen AI was used in the development of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.” Despite this, the studio confirmed on the day of the IGAs that it had used generative AI during production.

Therefore, the IGAs chose “the next highest-ranked game in its respective category” to receive these two awards. Best Debut Game was awarded to the stylish survival horror title Sorry We’re Closed. Game of the Year, on the other hand, was awarded to the critically feted Blue Prince. The developers behind both titles have been invited to record acceptance speeches, which will be made available to the public in 2026.

The IGAs also retracted one of its Indie Vanguard awards previously granted to Gortyn Code for his Game Boy game Chantey. The title is currently only available via ModRetro, a company owned by Palmer Lucky of Oculus VR and the military contractor Andruil Industries. ModRetro recently sold a version of its handheld device, Chromatic, that (per Kotaku) is “made from the same metal Anduril uses to create its attack drones.” This is presumably what the IGAs are referencing when it mentions “the news of their horrid and disgusting handheld console” on its website.

Despite retracting the award, the IGAs clarify that its “decision does not reflect Gortyn Code, but ModRetro alone. Chantey remains a wonderful throwback to the Game Boy era.” So far, there is no word whether the full version of Chantey might be sold on a platform other than ModRetro in the near future.

Hollow Knight: Silksong Sails The Sea Of Sorrow In 2026

If you thought that your silkposting days were over, think again. Team Cherry announced that Hollow Knight: Silksong’s first expansion, Sea of Sorrow, is set for release in 2026. A press release teases “new areas, bosses, tools, and more” in “our nautically themed expansion, coming free for all players next year.” Not much else is known, save for a trailer depicting the heroine Hornet standing in front of a mysterious bathysphere.

Team Cherry is also currently in the midst of updating the original Hollow Knight with “high frame-rate modes, higher resolutions, and many additional graphical effects.” This will be made available on the Switch 2, where anybody who already owns a Switch version of Hollow Knight will be able to download this new version for free. PC players can already try out the update via Steam and GOG’s public-beta branches.

Trails In The Sky 2nd Chapter Braces For Fall 2026 Worldwide Release

Nihon Falcom announced that Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter, which remakes its 2006 title The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC for modern consoles, is set for a simultaneous worldwide release in Fall 2026. (Its predecessor, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, received a simultaneous worldwide release in September of this year.) The studio also released a trailer featuring what appear to be cutscenes from the upcoming game, set to the classic track “Silver Will.” 

Meanwhile, per X user Umisuika, Nihon Falcom announced in a shareholder meeting that it is currently utilizing AI to brainstorm script ideas and correct spelling errors. In this way, Umisuika reported, jobs that previously took two or three hours might be finished in ten minutes. This is not the first time that generative AI has come up in conversation around Nihon Falcom. In 2024 (per Automaton), CEO Toshihiro Kondo suggested that “if we could use AI translation to reduce [translation time], or maybe even make the releases simultaneous, it would be a blessing for us as a company, and it wouldn’t be a bad thing for the fans either.”

This is a significant change for the Trails series, considering its history. Trails in the Sky FC and SC built a cult fanbase in part because of the herculean efforts of localization staff like Jessica Chavez and Leona Renee. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, though, featured an entirely new script that was criticized for introducing terminology that was inconsistent with these earlier localizations. Despite acting with its fans in mind, Nihon Falcom should be careful not to compromise the single most important aspect of the Trails series–its writing.

Co-Founder Brian Fleming Leaves Sucker Punch Productions

A press release from Sucker Punch Productions announced that its co-founder, Brian Fleming, is stepping down from his role as head of the studio. His position is being filled by Jason Connell (Co-Creative Director of the Ghost series) and Adrian Bentley (Technical Director). Nate Fox also remains as Co-Creative Director. 

Brian Fleming founded Sucker Punch Productions in 1997 together with Bruce Oberg, Darrell Plank, Chris Zimmerman, Tom, and Cathy Saxon. His name appears in the credits of every game that the studio has released, from its debut Rocket: Robot on Wheels to the Sly Cooper series of PS2 platformers and the PS3/PS4 superhero series inFAMOUS. 

James Ohlen Steps Down From Exodus Developer Archetype Entertainment

Jason Schreier reported via Bloomberg that James Ohlen has stepped down from his position as co-founder and producer of Archetype Entertainment, the studio behind the upcoming science fiction game Exodus with Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast. Schreier quotes Abby Hodes, the vice-president of corporate communications at Hasbro, who said that Ohlen “‘asked to shift his creative focus’...to tabletop roleplaying games.” He will remain a creative consultant. 

Before co-founding Archetype Entertainment, Ohlen was BioWare’s Senior Creative Director. He is credited as lead designer on Baldur’s Gate I and II, as well as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. He was also the Director of BioWare’s MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic. Ohlen’s last credited role at the studio is its doomed multiplayer game Anthem, where he is listed as “Former Director of Design.”

Ohlen’s leadership at Wizards of the Coast is to be replaced by former Blizzard staff member Paul Della Bitta, community manager for the original World of Warcraft. A new trailer for Exodus premiered at the Game Awards this year; it is scheduled to be released in 2027. 

Near-Complete Princess Maker And Princess Maker 2 Source Code Uploaded To GitHub

Per Bluesky user asie, the near-complete source code for the original PC-9801 editions of Princess Maker and Princess Maker 2 were uploaded to GitHub this year by the user ritsuro. Both uploads currently do not contain the ending scripts, internal development tools, or the music and sound files (as “a different programmer holds the copyright”). Otherwise, they are MIT-licensed (“permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files…to deal in the Software without restriction”) with the exception that (according to the GitHub) “if you wish to use the game system commercially, please obtain permission directly from the rights holder.”

The first Princess Maker was published in 1991 by the famed anime studio Gainax (Otaku no Video, Neon Genesis Evangelion.) Its sequel came two years later in 1993; others followed. Princess Maker was a “raising sim” in which you raised a young woman from childhood to adulthood. By steadily increasing her stats, you could “make” her into a hero, a demon lord, or even a criminal. The influence of the series can be seen in more recent titles like Long Live the Queen and Volcano Princess.

Gainax itself was (per SoraNews24)  “completely dissolved and liquidated” on December 10th of this year after years of mismanagement. Although former Gainax staff at studios like Khara and Trigger now own the rights to the characters that they created, Princess Maker may be a different story. The newest title in the series, Princess Maker: Children of Revelation, was initially led by (per Automaton Media) the South Korean developer D-ZARD for Early Access, only for its whole staff to be laid off during production this September.

Bizarre Saturn RPG Airs Adventure Receives English Patch

An English patch for Airs Adventure was published on GitHub thanks to SnowyAria, hitomi2500, NicheTopic, and blueskyrunner. Developed for the Sega Saturn by Game Studio Inc., a studio founded by Tower of Druaga designer Masanobu Endo, the game features character design and art direction by Mamoru Nagano, the famed creator behind The Five Star Stories. Despite this, Airs Adventure is regarded in Japan as a “kusoge,” or “shitty game.” (YouTuber kusocolonel called it “The Sega Saturn’s Most Beautiful RPG Failure.”)

A steady stream of kusoge has been translated into English over the past few years. SnowyAria, of course, translated the famously awful RPG Ancient Roman into English a year ago in 2024. Another notable title from this year was the horror game Yaku: Yujo Dangi, translated by whowasphone404, Chapu, and SuperRetroPolygons as Misfortune: A Story of Suspicious Friendships. While these games are not necessarily masterpieces, they are classics, adored because of rather than despite their strange idiosyncrasies. I hope to see more of these games discovered by unsuspecting players in the coming years. In the meantime, what English language kusoge would you choose to share with the rest of the world? Bad Rats? Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit? Choose wisely; the fate of the planet lies in your hands.

Update Patch News Roundup (30/12/25)

This week on Update Patch: death, and new life. Don’t lose hope as we head into the new year.

Respawn Entertainment’s Vince Zampella Dies In Car Crash

Vince Zampella, co-founder of Infinity Ward and Respawn Entertainment, died in a car crash on December 21 2025. According to NBC Los Angeles, the car he was driving (a 2026 Ferrari 296 GTS) “veered off the road just after exiting a tunnel, hit a concrete barrier and a passenger was ejected.” Zampella died in the ensuing fire, while the passenger later died at the hospital. 

Various organizations connected with Zampella published official statements following his death. From Electronic Arts, which owns Respawn Entertainment and Ripple Effect Studios, both affiliated with Zampella: “This is an unimaginable loss, and our hearts are with Vince’s family, his loved ones, and all those touched by his work.” From Respawn, developers of Titanfall and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order: “We will remember Vince for how he showed up every day, trusting his teams, encouraging bold ideas, and believing in Respawn & Battlefield.” Studios Infinity Ward and Treyarch also issued statements on X.

After serving as Development Director on the Medal of Honor spin-off Allied Assault in 2002, Zampella founded the games studio Infinity Ward together with Grant Collier and Jason West. The studio’s claim to fame was the Call of Duty series, which began as a World War II shooter in the vein of Medal of Honor before pivoting into the modern day with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

When Activision fired Zampella and West from Infinity Ward following the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, they fought hard in the courts for unpaid bonuses and royalties, winning at least $42 million from a frustrated Bobby Kotick. Zampella and West also founded Respawn Entertainment, which was acquired by Electronic Arts in 2017. Respawn would go on to publish the excellent shooter Titanfall 2, as well as Apex Legends and (most recently) the Star Wars Jedi series. Between these various titles, Zampella (as producer) had a hand in many of the most influential and popular games of the past 20 years.

Soraya Saga Announces Retirement From Writing For Games

Soraya Saga announced on her blog that she has “retired from writing video games due to family circumstances.” She cites the fact that she has had to take care of her grandmother for five years, as well as the fact that a member of her family has been having a difficult time for a decade. She also writes that “with the success of Xenoblade Chronicles, [Tetsuya] Takahashi's solo writing seems to be widely acclaimed by the fandom. I don't think I should ruin it.”

Soraya Saga (the pen name of Kaori Tanaka) joined Square as a graphic designer in the 1990s. According to MobyGames, she contributed world map and field graphics to Romancing Saga 3 and Final Fantasy VI.  She was also responsible for coming up with Final Fantasy VI’s twin brothers, Edgar and Sabin; fans of the game will remember the heartbreaking story tying those brothers together. Per an interview with Siliconera, Saga went on to make a doujinshi depicting their “tales of childhood that didn’t fit in the game.” 

Saga’s magnum opus was the Xeno series of games, together with her partner Tetsuya Takahashi. The first entry, the 1998 PlayStation title Xenogears, combined giant robots, science fiction, and Gnosticism with intense psychodrama inspired by Freud and Jung. While the game’s production suffered due to its great ambitions and inexperienced development team, it became a cult classic (perhaps the cult classic) of Square’s experimental PlayStation era. 

Xenogears was followed four years later by Xenosaga, an even more ambitious cinematic PS2 RPG developed by Monolithsoft. Originally intended to be released in six parts, it was later cut down to three (plus a mobile title, Xenosaga: Pied Piper). In particular, Monolithsoft (according to her FAQ) “shortened and adapted” the script that she and Takahashi wrote for the second episode.  Following this experience, Saga announced via her blog in 2005 that she was no longer involved in Xenosaga. She also would not appear in Takahashi’s later Xenoblade series, save for contributing the design for Gorg in Xenoblade 2.

Saga’s final credited work was the scenario for Soma Bringer, a 2008 action RPG for the DS. While this short list of credits may pale compared to others in the space, fans of RPGs know that Saga was one of the most distinctive voices ever to pass through Square. Her talents will be missed. 

Famitsu Reveals Game Of The Year Lists From Japanese Developers

As is tradition, Famitsu asked various game developers and producers in Japan for their personal favorite games of the year. Some representative names (per HDKirin, who translated the feature on Bluesky) include ArcSystemsWorks’s Daisuke Ishiwatari, Cho Yonghee of the upcoming Capcom game Pragmata, and Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka, among many others. 

As usual, there are a wide variety of titles on these lists. Some like Mario Kart World and Monster Hunter Wilds aren’t too surprising. Others are more obscure, like the stylish indie adventure game Urban Myth Dissolution Center, which has been the breakout hit of the year in Japan. If you’re one of those people who spent the past year arguing over whether Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a Japanese RPG, you might be interested to know that several Japanese developers (including Square Enix producer Masashi Takahashi and director Naoki Hamaguchi) had the game at the top of their lists. AAA titles from the United States and Europe, like Ghosts of Yotei and Cyberpunk 2077, were also well represented.

Also of interest is 4gamer’s end-of-year feature, which interviews many of the same developers who appeared in the Famitsu report regarding their current interests and what they’re planning for the next year. I recommend reading through GSK’s translations on Bluesky for more information.

Guilty Gear Strive Eyes 2.0 Update Next Year 

Guilty Gear Strive producer Ken Miyauchi announced in his 19th “Developer’s Backyard” newsletter that Arc System Works is planning a Version 2.0 update for the game. While this update will add at least one new playable character, its focus will be on updating the feel of the whole game rather than just adding new material.

In order to address Strive’s increasingly powerful cast, Miyauchi says that his team’s first priority will be “to bring these heightened performance levels back to an appropriate range, with the goal of establishing a battle environment that functions in a healthier and more stable way overall.” Arc System Works also intends to reassess the Wild Assault mechanic and to give the characters Sol Badguy, Ky Kiske, Nagoriyuki, and Leo Whitefang new moves. In addition, “for a small number of characters, we are also considering changes that go beyond standard tuning, including potential reworks.”

As for the Nintendo Switch edition of the game, Miyauchi notes that “developing and operating the game on Nintendo Switch required a great deal of effort and ingenuity to work within hardware constraints. Based on that experience, we are currently examining what form future updates beyond Version 2.0 could take for the Nintendo Switch Edition.”

Final Fantasy IX Animated Series Back in Production

Per RPG Site, an animated series based on the PSX game Final Fantasy IX is now in production at Euro Visual for a 2028 release. While the series was (according to a Kidscreen report) originally being made by Cyber Group Studios (Gigantosaurus), that studio closed earlier this year. Its initial pitch (titled “The Black Mages’s Legacy”) was leaked back in 2022. If this leak is to be believed, Euro Visual is continuing the work that Cyber Group Studios began rather than building from the ground up.

A blurb in the French magazine Écran Total hints at the plot: “Mel, Kolm, Luciola, Théa, Fala, and Doc, children of the hero Bibi, are the last black mages of the four continents. Today, they live happily in the city of Alexandria, guarded by its rather friendly, though sometimes very curious, inhabitants.” As a reminder, Bibi is the localized French name for Vivi, the childish black mage who is one of the most beloved characters from the original game. That would make this upcoming series a sequel to the original game rather than a straight adaptation. 

No, Mr. Bond, I Expect a Delay: 007 First Light Set for May 2026

IO Interactive, the developers of the Hitman series, announced via Bluesky on December 23rd that it is delaying the release of its new title, 007 First Light, by two months. It will now be released on May 27th, 2026. “These additional two months,” reads the statement, “will allow us to further polish and refine the experience, ensuring we deliver the strongest possible version at launch.”

As game developers know, a little bit of polish can go a long way, especially with huge projects like this one. It’s also worth noting that Grand Theft Auto VI, which was set to release not so long ago on May 26th, was recently delayed until November 19, 2026. IO Interactive is almost certainly taking advantage of this new window to give 007 First Light the attention it needs. Keep your eyes peeled for other studios to reposition their games in advance of Rockstar’s monster release next year (that is, if it makes it next year.)

Simu Liu And Timo Tjahjanto Join Forces For Sleeping Dogs

In a question-and-answer session with fans on X, actor Simu Liu announced that Timo Tjahjanto is lined up to direct his in-development film adaptation of the game Sleeping Dogs. Liu previously teased the project in January 2025 by saying, “first a movie, then a sequel game for everyone… that’s always been the dream.” IGN reported in February that Story Kitchen (previously dj2 Entertainment) is leading development.

Sleeping Dogs was developed by United Front Games. Originally titled True Crime Hong Kong under Activision, it was cancelled and then licensed for Square Enix to publish under its new name. The studio released the game for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC in 2012. While it earned good reviews, Square Enix would later announce in its 2013 annual report (per Game Informer) that it and its peers Hitman Absolution and Tomb Raider had “failed to reach their respective targets, and resulted in financially unsatisfactory consequences.” It never saw a sequel.

A previous film adaptation of Sleeping Dogs was announced in 2017, with Donnie Yen signed up to play the lead role of Wei Shen. Yen later told Polygon in January 2025 that the film had been cancelled. While there is no word if Yen is involved in Simu Liu’s take on Sleeping Dogs, it looks as if director Tjahjanto was previously in talks to direct the film at this earlier stage before teaming up with Liu. 

Cancelled Resident Evil Port For The Game Boy Color Preserved By Original Programmers

Games That Weren’t announced that it has preserved a near-complete version of Resident Evil for the Game Boy Color, thanks to the efforts of assistant programmer Pete Frith. While two earlier versions were previously made available by Kiff Storey and Bowker back in 2011, they were not actually completable. This new version (which contains an estimated 98% of the game, if not 100%) includes the end sequence as well as the final Tyrant battle. While Games That Weren’t has not yet confirmed if the game is possible to finish, this is easily the most fleshed-out version of the game to ever see release.

Resident Evil was previously developed for the GBC by the UK developer HotGen to be published by Virgin Interactive. Per Games That Weren’t’s interview with developer Nigel Speight, “the game was supposed to be about 35% of the original PlayStation version…however, as time went along Virgin kept upping the cartridge size and wanting more of the original content in.” The game was ultimately cancelled, says Pete Frith, because “the original creator of Resident Evil didn’t feel the GBC was worthy of his creation, and…personally instructed the cancellation.” The first Resident Evil game for the GBC would instead be Resident Evil Gaiden, developed by fellow UK game studio M4 Ltd. That said, Gaiden was designed around a top-down perspective. HotGen’s attempt by comparison was a much more faithful effort at capturing the look of the original Resident Evil for PlayStation. Whether or not the game is any fun to play, it’s a fascinating piece of history.