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Squid Game Is Taking Over Fortnite Reload Next Week With A New Map

by admin June 23, 2025

Fortnite and Netflix are celebrating the launch of the final season of Squid Game next week by taking over Reload and dropping a pile of Squid Game-themed skins in the item shop. The new island, dubbed Squid Grounds, will be the fourth map for Reload, Fortnite’s smaller battle royale mode with automatic respawns. It’ll be the first time for any of Fortnite’s battle royale modes that an entire map is the product of a collaboration. The Fortnite x Squid Game party kicks off Friday, June 27, which is also when Season 3 of Squid Game drops on Netflix.

We don’t have any specifics about whether the Squid Game island will change up how the mode works–that tweet announcing it is the first official details we’ve gotten about Fortnite’s team-up with Squid Game. It’s probable that the new map will be based on locations from the series and will introduce Squid Game-themed weapons, but we really don’t know much.

We do, however, know what the map will look like, because the mini-map view has already leaked. But since it doesn’t have labels for its places of interest, it’s not very easy to parse what’s on it, or whether any of the locations are familiar. We’ll have to wait a little longer to find out what’s up, apparently.

But one other detail we do already have is that we’ll be getting Squid Game skins, presumably in the item shop. It appears right now as though we’ll get five male and five female Fortnite default characters wearing contestant track suits, with two of them being new faces–and you’ll be able to choose the number on the jacket. There will also be a red guard skin and a black guard skin, which will let you choose which icon is on their mask. And as you can see in the key art above, there also appears to be a skin based on the gigantic Red Light/Green Light animatronic doll.

When the new Squid Game map launches in Fortnite Reload on June 27 it’ll be the last of Fortnite’s core game modes to get major love this month. June has already given us new seasons of Battle Royale, Fortnite Festival, Lego Fortnite and Fortnite OG, a whole new mode in Blitz Royale, and a new map for Ballistic.

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June 23, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Deckbuilding Game Based On Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn Saga Is Available At Amazon

by admin June 23, 2025

A new deckbuilding tabletop game based on Brandon Sanderson’s popular Mistborn Saga book series is now available to purchase at Amazon for $43 at Amazon. Mistborn: The Deckbuilding Game is designed for 1-4 players and includes everything you need to play right in the box, making this a great choice for fans who want to engage with the fantasy universe in a new way.

$42.86 (was $45)

Mistborn: The Deckbuilding Game was created by card game designer John D. Clair and published by Brotherwise Games. This is a standalone deck-building game, meaning every card is included in the box, with each card based on characters, items, and other concepts from the Mistborn novels. Each player builds their own decks from the included cards using a point-based “purchase” system, and gameplay revolves around a resource-management “Burn” mechanic themed after the metal-based Allomancy magic from the series. The game offers three modes of play, including head-to-head competitive multiplayer, as well as solo and co-op modes where the players battle against Luthadel City’s Lord Ruler and his Steel Inquisitors. Each mode tasks players with completing a series of missions to win, and matches last around 45 minutes.

Mistborn: The Deckbuilding Game

While Mistborn: The Deckbuilding Game is the latest official tabletop game based on Sanderson’s work from Brotherwise Games, it’s not the only one. A standalone expansion for the Call to Adventure card game based on The Stormlight Archive series is also available. This is another all-in-one, quest-based card game that features 120 cards and unique rules based on The Stormlight Archives series. Players start the game by picking Character cards that have unique abilities and goals, and modify them with new traits as each match progresses. The game supports 1-4 players and has rules for solo, co-op, and competitive play.

Call to Adventure: The Stormlight Archive can be purchased and played standalone or combined with the original Call to Adventure base game. There are also additional expansion sets available if you want to add even more cards and mechanics to the game.

Call To Adventure Tabletop Game

If you’re looking for even more card games, Brotherwise Games also recently launched a new edition of its video-game-inspired Boss Monster card game wherein players craft their own dungeons to thwart NPC adventurers. Super Boss Monster retains the fast-paced loop of the original while adding new systems such as card drafting and support for solo players. It’s also compatible with all original Boss Monster sets and expansions. As the name suggests, Super Boss Monster pays homage to the SNES and is even packaged in a Super Nintendo-style cartridge box. The original Boss Monster core sets have NES-inspired boxes, and the budget-friendly expansions use Game Boy-style boxes.

Mistborn: The Original Trilogy

The tabletop games set in Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere universe can be played and enjoyed without reading either series–Mistborn or Stormlight Archive–but naturally existing fans will appreciate some of the details and references found in the games. If you’re interested in checking out either of Sanderson’s bestselling series of adult fantasy novels, we’ve rounded up some deals below on box sets, hardcover editions, and paperbacks.

The Mistborn Saga Box Sets

For newcomers, Mistborn is generally considered more approachable than Stormlight. Sanderson’s Mistborn saga currently has seven novels. The first trilogy of novels fall within the epic and urban fantasy genres, but they are also heist novels with a heavy emphasis on political intrigue and a creative magic system. The second trilogy, Wax and Wayne, takes place three centuries after the third novel and could aptly be described as character-driven crime novels that take place in a fantasy world. The Lost Metal, Book 7 in the overarching saga and the first book in the new sequence, incorporates sci-fi and steampunk trappings and features technology from the ’80s and ’90s.

After reading the first three Mistborn books, check out Mistborn: Secret History, which takes place between the first and second trilogies.

The Mistborn Saga (Paperbacks)

The Final Empire — $16.79 ($22)
The Well of Ascension — $15 ($22)
The Hero of Ages — $11 ($22)
The Alloy of Law — $12.73 ($22)
Shadows of Self — $13 ($22)
The Bands of Mourning — $16 ($22)
The Lost Metal — $15 ($24)

The Stormlight Archive hardcover editions

The Stormlight Archive, meanwhile, is a more traditional epic fantasy series with huge ensemble casts and a plethora of narrative threads. Fans of Game of Thrones and Wheel of Time should definitely check out the Stormlight Archive novels. Each of the five mainline books is a doorstopper. The fifth book in the series, Wind and Truth, released late last year to critical acclaim and commercial success. Wind and Truth is the longest book in the series at 1,344 pages. You can get a hardcover box set with the first four Stormlight Archive novels for 50% off at Amazon. For a more budget-friendly option, check out the Stormlight paperback box set featuring the first three books for $25.

The Stormlight Archive (Hardcover)

Sanderson has also released a number of standalone books set in the Cosmere, the vast universe that’s home to both Stormlight and Mistborn. Three of the four current Secret Projects books–the most successful Kickstarter campaign ever–are set in the Cosmere. The fifth Secret Project book, Isles of the Emberdark, is also set in the Cosmere and releases February 3, 2026.

Brandon Sanderson’s Secret Projects Books

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June 23, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Pacers-Thunder Game 7 showdown: Everything you need to know

by admin June 22, 2025

Jun 22, 2025, 08:00 AM ET

Game 7s are the moments where legends are made.

These are the games — with little margin for error and everything on the line — that go down in the annals of history, particularly at this stage of the playoffs when they are rare. Since the NBA-ABA merger at the start of the 1976-77 season, there have been only eight winner-take-all games to decide the NBA title.

Sunday night will see that number grow to nine, when the host Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers square off in Game 7 of the NBA Finals — the first time that the league’s championship round has gone the distance since 2016. That game is, at a minimum, on the short list for the greatest game in the history of the sport, with LeBron James leading the Cleveland Cavaliers back from a 3-1 deficit in the best-of-7 series to dethrone the 73-win Golden State Warriors on their home floor.

The Thunder have been waiting for their first title since they left Seattle for Oklahoma City 17 years ago. The franchise has left the SuperSonics’ history in the past. Still, after several near-misses — including an NBA Finals trip in 2012 and conference finals appearances in 2014 and 2016 — Oklahoma City had the seventh-most wins in NBA history (68) this season. It will be the fifth-best team, in terms of wins, in the history of the sport if the Thunder can claim this year’s title.

• Finals takeaways: Breaking down every game
• Kram: Seven plays defining series
• Youngmisuk: Fashion of the NBA Finals
• Shelburne: Clark/Haliburton friendship
• Collier & MacMahon: Carlisle’s evolution
• Paine: Five biggest Finals outliers

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, would put himself in rarified air if he’s able to win a championship after winning the scoring title and the league’s regular-season MVP award — something only Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have done.

This is a moment the Thunder were expected to be in all season. The same cannot be said for their opponents, however, as a win for Indiana will cap what has to be one of the most unexpected runs to a championship in the NBA. The Pacers have completed one historic comeback in each of the four rounds of the playoffs, including star guard Tyrese Haliburton completing an unparalleled run of clutch shotmaking to go along with Indiana’s penchant for wearing down its opponents.

Coach Rick Carlisle, who led a similarly constructed Dallas Mavericks team to a title against a massive favorite in the James-led Miami Heat in 2011, has already won seven games in the Finals as an underdog, the most in NBA history.

Indiana would also earn its first NBA championship after making the Finals with Reggie Miller leading the way 25 years ago. It won a couple of ABA championships behind Hall of Famers Mel Daniels and Roger Brown in the 1970s.

The Pacers and Thunder will sit 48 minutes away from immortality when they take the court Sunday night. Only one thing is for certain: Whatever happens, the game will never be forgotten. — Tim Bontemps

MORE: Schedule and news | Offseason guide

The biggest keys for the Thunder: Home-court advantage

Give the home crowd a reason to stay loud. The Thunder earned the right to host the most important game of the season by rolling to 68 wins and the best record in the league. The Paycom Center has been an awfully tough place for opponents to play this postseason.

The Thunder are 10-2 at home with nine double-digit wins, including victories by 30- and 32-point margins in elimination games the past two rounds.

The fans in Oklahoma City — a small market with only one big-league franchise — provide a true home-court advantage that Jalen Williams has compared to a high school football powerhouse, the kind of program that an entire town revolves around. The stands will be packed with folks wearing the same T-shirts by the time the layup lines begin. They’ll be loud, providing the Thunder “the wind behind our backs,” as coach Mark Daigneault puts it. — Tim MacMahon

The Pacers had 16 steals in Game 6, the most by any team in an NBA Finals game since the Celtics in 2008 (18) (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The biggest keys for the Pacers: Controlled chaos

Limit turnovers and control the pace. It’s easier said than done against a defense as swarming as the Thunder’s, but the Pacers have been at their best when they’ve managed to win the turnover battle and stop Oklahoma City from getting out in transition.

The results are twofold. Not turning the ball over allows the Pacers to attempt more field goals instead of coming away with empty possessions and it stops the Thunder from getting easy transition baskets, which makes their offense thrive.

The Pacers want a chaotic game controlled in their favor, similar to Game 6, when Indiana was the team flying around the floor while Oklahoma City got stagnant trying to run an offense in the half court repeatedly. — Jamal Collier

Players who will swing Game 7

Oklahoma City Thunder

Alex Caruso is the only proven NBA champion on the Thunder’s roster, the veteran leader of this team and a player who was a dominant force in Oklahoma City’s previous Game 7 win against the Denver Nuggets.

Caruso wreaked havoc as the primary defender against three-time MVP Nikola Jokic that afternoon, a major factor in the 23 turnovers that the Thunder converted into 37 points. He was a plus-40 in 26 minutes.

He’s one of the toughest competitors in the NBA, a guy who lives for this type of highest-stakes situation. Caruso has had his fingerprints all over Oklahoma City’s playoff run so far. Count on that continuing in Game 7. — MacMahon

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers’ depth has been their strength throughout this playoff run and T.J. McConnell has stepped up with a fantastic performance in this series. His high-energy style for 19 minutes per game has provided a spark in each contest he checks into, and he’s averaging 11.3 points and 4.5 assists in the series on 54% shooting.

Haliburton played through a calf injury in a high-stakes Game 6 and was effective, but not as mobile as usual, which means the Pacers are going to need a variety of ball handlers to help keep their pace and run their offense.

McConnell almost certainly won’t win the Finals MVP with the efforts of Haliburton and Pascal Siakam coming up big for Indiana all series, but the way McConnell and the bench unit have energized the team — and outplayed their reserve counterparts from OKC — is a major reason the Pacers have an opportunity to win this series. — Collier

If the Thunder win Game 7, we’ll remember their title as _____.

Crossing the finish line for a historic season — and taking the first step in a potential dynastic run.

Oklahoma City profiles statistically as one of the most dominant teams of all time with the best regular-season point differential ever. The only champion to finish the season with more total wins than the Thunder’s 84, if Oklahoma City finishes the job, was the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.

Oklahoma City is in this position with almost its entire core consisting of ascending talent.

Gilgeous-Alexander is an MVP who is just entering his prime. Williams is an All-NBA sidekick still in the relatively early stages of his development, as is Chet Holmgren, who has All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year potential.

GM Sam Presti still has an unprecedented treasure chest of first-round draft picks to utilize to continue adding talent and perhaps eventually replace some core players if difficult payroll decisions result in departures.

This should be the first of many Junes when the Thunder is the focus of the basketball world. — MacMahon

play

1:30

Hibbert: Title would solidify Haliburton as a Pacers great

Roy Hibbert says Tyrese Haliburton’s legacy in Indiana would be cemented with a championship ring.

If the Pacers win Game 7, we’ll remember their title as _____.

The biggest upset in NBA history.

Indiana entered the playoffs as a No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. Its run through the East was filled with buzzer-beaters and thrilling comebacks as the Pacers defied the odds, and they still began the Finals facing the longest odds of a team in 20 years in the championship series.

They will not be the favorites in any of the seven games in this series, but it all sets Indiana up on the doorstep of one of the most unlikely championships in league history.

The Pacers don’t profile like a usual championship contender, but they’ve spent the playoffs disproving any notion that they are not. — Collier

The matchups and adjustments that will decide the champ

Historic home-court advantage

In 12 playoff games at the Paycom Center, the Thunder have a plus-20.6-point differential, which is the second-largest margin of victory in home-court playoff history (minimum 5 games played), behind the 1995-96 Utah Jazz’s plus-20.7.

Oklahoma City’s only playoff losses at home were in Game 1 against Indiana and Game 1 against the Nuggets, and they led in both of those contests until the final seconds.

The occasional shooting woes that have plagued Oklahoma City in the playoffs haven’t been an issue at home. The Thunder have made just 29.9% of their 3-point attempts on the road in the playoffs, vastly underperforming their expected mark of 36.5%, according to GeniusIQ. But at home, they’ve made 37.5% of their 3s, a perfect match for their 37.5% expected 3-point mark.

Other than Williams, every member of the Thunder’s rotation has shot better from distance at home. — Zach Kram

According to GeniusIQ, Pascal Siakam defended Jalen Williams for 13 half-court matchups in Game 6. (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images)

An unfamiliar low-scoring game

Don’t expect a lot of points Sunday because, historically, Game 7s in the Finals have been low-scoring affairs. The past five ended 93-89, 95-88, 83-79, 81-74 and 90-84, respectively. Not since 1988, when the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons 108-105, has a team reached triple digits in a Finals Game 7.

It’s unclear which team that sort of game will favor because neither has played many like it all postseason. The Pacers haven’t won a playoff game with fewer than 108 points, but they just turned in their best defensive effort of the postseason, allowing only 91 points in Game 6.

The Thunder, meanwhile, are just 1-6 in the playoffs when they’ve scored 110 points or fewer. But OKC does have one low-scoring win — 92-87 in Game 4 against the Nuggets — and should be more accustomed to grind-it-out games.

The Thunder have held their opponents below 100 points six times in the playoffs, five of them at home. But Oklahoma City hasn’t done so once against Indiana in the Finals. — Kram

The turnover battle

The 2025 playoffs have been defined by turnovers. Overall, teams that commit fewer turnovers than their opponents have a record of 58-21 (.734). Given Oklahoma City led the league in avoiding turnovers and forced the second most on a per-possession basis, the Thunder both drove and benefited from that trend. Against Western Conference opponents, Oklahoma City won the turnover battle in 14 of 16 games.

But Indiana has been able to flip the script in the Finals.

After stealing Game 1 despite 25 giveaways, the Pacers had the turnover edge in their Game 3 and Game 6 wins and played the Thunder to a draw in Game 4. Thursday was the biggest outlier. Oklahoma City’s 10-turnover deficit was twice as big as in any other playoff game.

Rare Saturday edition of The F5:

– Charting the location of liveball turnovers in the Finals
– Q&A with @MiikeDLR about what makes a good Thinking Basketball video https://t.co/YlJOkAUagR pic.twitter.com/GQ3u5JvJvJ

— Owen Phillips (@owenlhjphillips) June 21, 2025

McConnell’s ability to turn routine efforts to bring the ball up into costly steals has been a key factor in Indiana doing to the Thunder what Oklahoma City has done to teams all season. Owen Phillips of the F5 Newsletter noted Saturday that the Thunder have committed 10 turnovers in this series before getting the ball past the 3-point line, as compared to just one for the Pacers.

As for the importance of home court for Game 7, however, Indiana has averaged 21 turnovers in three games at Paycom Center, as compared to 13.7 in three home games. If that split continues, the Pacers will face an uphill battle Sunday. — Kevin Pelton

MVP contenders

If Oklahoma City manages to win Game 7 and claim the championship, the only realistic option on the Thunder is an obvious one: the league’s regular-season MVP, Gilgeous-Alexander (minus-225).

Williams (plus-1300) has had some great moments in this series, including his 40-point explosion in Game 5, but it isn’t close enough to seriously tip the scales away from SGA in the event OKC is victorious.

Gilgeous-Alexander has the iconic sequence in the series to date with his fourth-quarter closeout in Game 4, and his stats across the board are superior.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 21 points and 8 turnovers in Game 6, tied for the most miscues in a Finals game in the past 40 years. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

If the Pacers win, however, the race is wide-open — and very likely will come down to how Game 7 itself plays out, and who has the biggest impact. The most likely scenario is that it will, like in the Eastern Conference finals, come down to a choice between the two Indiana stars, Haliburton (plus-1500) and Siakam (plus-300).

Haliburton, playing through a calf strain, has led the team in assists and had the game-winning bucket in Game 1 and a stellar performance in Game 3. Siakam, on the other hand, is leading the Pacers in points and rebounds, while averaging four assists and over a steal and a block.

The one true wild-card selection, depending on how he plays in a Pacers victory, is reserve guard McConnell (plus-10,000), who has had a fabulous series. It’s unlikely he will win the award, given that Siakam and/or Haliburton are all but assured of a big game if Indiana wins, but McConnell has had a big impact throughout the series as the leader of the Pacers’ second unit. — Bontemps

History of Game 7

From ESPN Research

This is the 20th Game 7 in the NBA Finals in league history.
It is the first Game 7 in the Finals since 2016, when the Cavaliers defeated the Warriors to complete the only 3-1 comeback in Finals history.
Home teams are 15-4 in Game 7 of the Finals.
Each of the past eight Game 7s in the NBA Finals have been decided by single digits and 15 of the 19 Game 7s in the NBA Finals have been decided by single digits.
The average margin of victory in Game 7 of the NBA Finals is 6.9 points, the smallest margin among all Finals games.

The underdogs:

Since seeding began in 1984, only one team seeded fourth or lower won the NBA title. It was the 1995 Houston Rockets, who were a 6-seed.
The Pacers won 18 fewer games than the Thunder in the regular season. That would be the largest upset in terms of regular-season wins in an NBA Finals in league history.
The Pacers had a PPG differential 10.6 points lower than the Thunder. That would be the largest upset in terms of PPG differential in an NBA Finals in league history.
The Pacers have 10 wins as an underdog this postseason, tied for the most by any team in a single postseason in the past 35 seasons.

Best bets

Andrew Nembhard over 14.5 total points and assists (-120). While Haliburton was able to play well Thursday, he is still dealing with a calf strain and might be limited. Nembhard took on a larger role in Game 6, notching a series-high 17 points with four assists (21 P+A), and I expect him to be called upon again in Game 7.

Nembhard averaged 12.5 points and 5.0 assists (17.5 P+A) in the first two games of the series, both in Oklahoma City, and the Pacers will likely need him to at least match those numbers in Game 7. — Andre Snellings

Jalen Williams over 22.5 total points (-125). Williams was in his scoring bag going into Game 6, averaging 31.0 points with at least 26 in each of the prior three contests. He got off to a strong scoring start in Game 6 with 16 points in the first half before the team got blown out in the third quarter. I look for Williams to bounce back in Game 7, playing at home, and generate another high-scoring effort. — Snellings

More bets for Game 7

Game 7 expert picks

Zach Kram: Thunder

Kevin Pelton: Thunder

Andre Snellings: Thunder

Ohm Youngmisuk: Thunder

Chris Herring: Thunder

Marc Spears: Thunder

Jeremy Woo: Pacers

Neil Paine: Thunder

Final tally:
Thunder 7, Pacers 1

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June 22, 2025 0 comments

Furi key art of white hair samurai with energy sword and tron lines dashing toward viewer

Gaming Gear

A criminally underrated action game with a soundtrack I’m still listening to 9 years later is on sale for just 2 bucks on Steam, and I already bought it again

by admin June 22, 2025

Ahead of Steam’s Summer Sale next week, The Game Bakers’ excellent 2016 bullet hell dueling game Furi is having a little sale of its own. The normally $20 game can be had for just $2, and I’m taking the opportunity to buy the dang thing again myself.

Former PC Gamer editor James Davenport gave Furi an 86% in his review at the game’s launch all the way back in 2016 (Christ alive), calling it one of the year’s “biggest surprises.” “Furi’s combat is shallow, and I mean that as a compliment,” James wrote. “All you can do is observe, react, and punish. It’s advanced Bop-It, a lighting quick series of rock-paper-scissors, the Grand Finals in fly-swatting—Furi exercises the hell out of a very small set of abilities until they feel like they were always there.”

Instead of the usual flow of levels between boss fights, Furi is one long gauntlet of nine unique duels, with just short, meditative walking sequences in-between. You play as a bad ass cyborg ninja dude with a sword and a gun⁠ (the vibe is very Hyper Light⁠), and the fights begin with top-down bullet hell shooting before transitioning into a Sekiro-style close-in melee of deflecting and dodging⁠—two years before Sekiro even released.

Furi rules so hard, and it’s both shocking and a little bit impressive that the devs at The Game Bakers don’t seem interested in revisiting the concept, instead shifting genres with every new game.

In 2020 the studio released the romantic RPG Haven (read our review here), while PC Gaming Show editorial director Jake Tucker thinks the upcoming Cairn is the best climbing game he’s ever played. The Game Bakers made one of the best action games of the 2010s, then ambled off to do something else. Respect.

I’d be remiss if I failed to mention the soundtrack: This is Music You Can Lift Weights To, and I do. Often. Furi’s OST shares a lot of artists with the iconic Hotline Miami soundtracks, another gaming gym banger favorite, and Waveshaper’s track “Wisdom of Rage” has been a Spotify most-played for me every year since Furi came out. It all contributes to this laconic, classically cool vibe that reminds me of shows like Afro Samurai or Samurai Champloo.

But it’s been a minute since I played. Furi was an early arrival on the Switch eShop, and that’s how I first experienced it. At $2 though, it’s about time I gave it the place of honor it deserves in my Steam Library. Furi will remain 90% off until this Thursday, June 26.

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June 22, 2025 0 comments

Esports

New Game Pass offer comes by way of Samsung TVs

by admin June 22, 2025

Last Thursday, EA announced their popular EA SPORTS FC 25 was coming to Game Pass and Samsung’s Gaming Hub. With that in mind, Samsung has a great offer to provide. Both existing and new Samsung TV and monitor owners can get two months of Game Pass, which will give them the opportunity to get on the pitch. Check out the details below.

Samsung today announced a partnership with Electronic Arts (EA) and Xbox to bring the action of EA SPORTS FCTM 25 to Samsung Gaming Hub. Samsung TV and monitor owners can now play EA SPORTS FC 25 through the Xbox app with Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) on supported devices1. All players need to get started is a compatible controller and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which includes EA Play.As a special promotion, new Xbox Game Pass subscribers can receive a two-month Ultimate Game Pass subscription2. The offer is available to both existing Samsung TV and monitor owners and those who buy a new, qualifying product. To redeem, users can simply download the Samsung Promotions app on their Samsung TV, click the Xbox promotion banner or scan the QR code with their mobile device, and then follow the steps on the screen to activate their offer.

Stay tuned to GamingTrend for more Samsung news and info!

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June 22, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

New fighting game Invincible VS has all the right foundations to be a barn-storming tag-teamer

by admin June 22, 2025

I have next to no idea what Invincible is. I know of Omni-Man, though only through osmosis and crossovers and such – but that’s the extent of my knowledge. I admit this to one of the developers of Invincible VS when I sat down to play the new game based on the comic book series, just revealed at Xbox’s most recent showcase. Briefly, they look a little crestfallen.

But, I then add – I bloody love fighting games. Their expression lightens. One can sense them relax.

“Well, then,” my Invincible VS guide grins. “We’ve got you covered.”

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It’s true that while beloved by many, the cast of Invincible is not as recognisable as might be found in some other fighting games. I saw and heard that refrain a little around Summer Games Fest – the idea that Sony had a new Marvel fighting game and Xbox had a much less famous comic book fighter. This narrative was usually presented as Xbox’s loss.

At the same time, however, a fighting game doesn’t necessarily need a strong property to survive. Did anyone know who Chun-Li or Guile were when Street Fighter 2 rocked the world? No – they were just strong silhouettes and personalities that players could gravitate towards. What mattered were those delicious mechanics – the character interplay, the balance, the combos, the comebacks – and Invincible VS already appears to have that crucial energy in spades.

In a limited build with only a handful of characters and stages available, it’s already clear that there’s a foundation for something special here. To take the obvious shortcut, allow me to cut to the chase and describe this game as Marvel-esque. The most obvious comparison is to Marvel vs Capcom 3, in fact – it has similar auto-combo systems, launchers, floaty space jumps, and so on. Its assist, tag, and reversal mechanics are also similar-ish. It’s also three-on-three, which for my money is absolutely the optimal setup for tag fighting.

Marvelling at these screenshots, are we? | Image credit: Skybound Games

This is why the representative from Invincible VS studio, Quarter Up, had grinned when I said I liked fighters: this is clearly a mechanically rich game for us fighting sickos. I only had around twenty-five minutes to get to grips with it, but by the end I was putting together combo strings that were held together with tags, assists, and the odd super move. If I was caught in a nasty juggle, I was managing to every now and then nail the timing to trigger a reversal and get my opponent off me.

I should note that all of this was played on a normal controller. The demo room was home to not a single fight stick, in fact. They’ll be supported, the developers say, but the game is being built with controllers in mind. The controls offered give you various strengths of attack and a dedicated special button, while assist-related actions are up on the triggers. There’s a lovely simplicity to it – though like all the best fighters, huge depth lies just beneath that surface. That initial stickiness can hopefully be honed to help draw players in, bringing in the casuals and then slowly initiating them into true fighting game competition over time.

In short, it clicked. That initial mechanical click is arguably the single most important thing for any fighting game to nail. Because these are such mechanically pure games, if you don’t like the core system in some way or another, it can be astronomically difficult to recover. But after under half an hour, I’m convinced Invincible VS has it.

Is there… space… for another tag fighter? | Image credit: Skybound Games

This perhaps shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Quarter Up is a new development studio, but it’s been named for a classic arcade action and is actually led by some fighting game veterans – folk who worked at Double Helix Games back when it was in charge of Xbox’s Killer Instinct. KI ended up handed off to another studio later in its development, and only went from strength to strength over the years – but the foundation for that strength was doubtless in the foundation that Double Helix-laid.

The choice of IP shouldn’t come as a surprise – Quarter Up parent company and bankroll Skybound Entertainment is first and foremost a comic book company that is making an eager push into gaming. Skybound is best known for The Walking Dead, but it also owns and publishes Invincible – so the tie-in was obvious.

One thing that is clear from the demo is that it’s early days. The Quarter Up team stress that it’s still figuring a lot of stuff out – be that balance, or move sets, or deeper issues. When I ask about the level of violence – Invincible is known for spine-ripping, decapitating, blood-splattered action – they say they’re committed to what they’ve shown, but also mindful that it might not be the friendliest for Twitch-streamed fighter tournaments. Some toggles might be required.

It’s clear this is a team open to that sort of thing, however. Open and excited. Most important is that the foundations are there. As with any fighting games, further hurdles must be cleared now – filling out the cast, keeping things varied, interesting, and balanced. Then there’s the very difficult job of ensuring that everybody will be satisfied with the style and amount of content on offer. But the first and most difficult hurdle appears to have been cleared – and I’m looking forward to seeing more.

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June 22, 2025 0 comments

A smiling banana says "It's me, Pedro. Your friend..."

Gaming Gear

Shotgun Cop Man just got a free DLC that proves every game is better with bullet time

by admin June 22, 2025

My Friend Pedro was a Flash game that evolved into a standalone release in which you played a man who used his skateboard gun-fu skills to kill bad dudes at the command of a talking banana (named Pedro). It was a lot of fun. I gave it an 81. You could throw a frypan into the air and then ricochet bullets off it in slow-motion.

Its developer, DeadToast Entertainment, followed it this year with Shotgun Cop Man. A more lo-fi take on the action-platformer genre, Shotgun Cop Man saw you descend into Hell to fight demons with a shotgun that launched you into the air when you shot the ground. Want to double-jump? Shoot twice. It was almost as much fun, though it didn’t have a skateboard or bullet time.

Until now. DeadToast has generously bolted three new worlds with 17 levels in each of them onto Shotgun Cop Man. These 51 levels are themed around My Friend Pedro and add skateboards and bullet time, as well as breakable glass, frying pans, ziplines, swing ropes, and a friendly banana. There are also three new boss fights, one of which is with a helicopter.

Which is a lot of value to add to a game for free. Even better, Shotgun Cop Man is currently on sale for 20% off if you haven’t checked it out already, and My Friend Pedro is on sale for 80% off if you missed out on that bright yellow slice of the old ultraviolence before now. Basically, you’ve got no excuse. Unless you hate bullet time, in which case Max Payne 2 would like a word.

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June 22, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Dreamsettler, the follow-up to early internet inspired browser game Hypnospace Outlaw, has been cancelled

by admin June 22, 2025

A little over three years since it was announced, Dreamsettler, the spiritual sequel to Hypnospace Outlaw, has been cancelled. Yesterday, lead developer Jay Tholen shared a video simply titled “Dreamsettler is canceled”, where he explained some of his reasoning behind the decision. “This is not a joke, and I’m sorry everyone,” Tholen wrote in the description of the video.

After noting that he “didn’t want to make a video like this,” the developer went on to explain that Dreamsettler is cancelled, going on to say that this means “it’s not coming out, it won’t be finished. This was a mutual decision between the publisher and I. They didn’t pull support or anything, and they tried what they could to keep it going, but it’s just time to stop it.”

Watch on YouTube

He also noted how it was bad timing given that a Patreon to help keep the project going was only launched earlier this year. There are also plans to try to release the part of the game that do exist, including the soundtrack from returning composer The Chowder Man, in some shape or form.

In a short version of events, Tholan explained that with Dreamsettler, they had a budget this time, so “we tried to plan the game from the top down more or less, where we knew all the beats that would happen, and what expensive things we could afford to film or have made for the game, and how much money we could afford to pay a programmer for X amount of time.” In turn, there was a specific schedule to follow, and Tholen noted he has “never successfully made a game based on a design document.”

He later said that he thinks he’s a “hard person to work with. On a normal team, where there wasn’t some guy who needed to work a weird way, they would have finished this game, and it would have been great, but I just couldn’t get it going, you know? And it’s too late. Hopefully you all stick around, and don’t hate my guts, and hopefully we’ll talk soon.”

In the years since announcing Dreamsettlers, Tholen did also work on Slayer X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer, a boomer shooter spin-off made by the in-world Hypnospace Outlaw character Zane – former RPS staffer Liam reviewed it and had some positive but mixed feelings on it. Co-founder John Walker reviewed Hypnospace Outlaw back in the day too, coming away from it quite enamoured.

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June 22, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Here’s the entire soundtrack for Europa Universalis 5 even though the grand strategy game doesn’t have a release date yet

by admin June 22, 2025

Europa Universalis V – Original Soundtrack – YouTube

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You can now listen to the entire soundtrack for grand strategy game Europa Universalis 5, as it’s been posted to YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music. Composed by Håkan Glänte, the music spans a lot of history and a lot of Europe in an impressive 26 tracks lasting nearly two hours.

As you might imagine, it’s a suitably grand soundtrack for a game that will encompass nearly 500 years of human history, from the medieval world through the early modern period. It focuses on a lot of orchestral pieces, with recognizable inspirations from medieval, renaissance, and baroque music.

There’s even a fitting bit of Bach in there, with an added vocal track above it—Gloria Patri On Bach’s Cello Suite No.1 in G major, BWV 1007: I.Prélude. How pleasantly iconic. (Not sarcasm—trust me, you’ll probably recognize the tune if you hear it. It’s at 38:08 in the YouTube video.)

For hardcore fans of grand strategy games there may have been a little apprehension over the upcoming soundtrack. Andreas Waldetoft, the composer behind the brilliant soundtracks of over a decade of Paradox Development Studio releases, left his exclusive arrangement with Paradox in 2023. Waldetoft’s soundtrack for previous Paradox games were much-beloved.

However, like Håkan Glänte’s previous tracks with Paradox for Victoria 3, this one’s pretty dang good. I’ll let you give it a listen before you decide if it lives up to the legacy, fellow strategy meganerds, but for me it’s another good set with a few true standouts that’re going right on my “good game music” playlist. No, I won’t give it a better name, it has been named that since 2005 and I am now completely set in my ways.

In a hands-on preview earlier this year, PC Gamer’s Fraser Brown said that Europa Universalis 5 might well be “the ultimate grand strategy game.” I spent time with the same build of it, and I’m inclined to agree.

You can find the Europa Universalis 5 soundtrack on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube. Europa Universalis 5 itself, however, doesn’t yet have a release date.

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June 22, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Buckshot Roulette Creator’s New Game Is A Dark Psychological Hacking Adventure Launching Next Month

by admin June 21, 2025

Mike Klubnika, the creator of last year’s unsettling Russian roulette horror game Buckshot Roulette, has announced his next title will arrive in just a few weeks. s.p.l.i.t. is a narrative-driven psychological horror adventure.

Klubnika describes s.p.l.i.t. as a short first-person adventure that sees players control a hacker planning to execute a malware attack on an unethical superstructure. Sitting at a computer terminal, gameplay involves solving puzzles styled as complex command prompts to navigate directories, run software, and execute commands. You’ll also use an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) to communicate with fellow hackers and gain intel on your target. A press release provides a more ominous overview of what s.p.l.i.t. entails:

“A daunting task lies ahead. Unconscionable secrets and vulnerabilities lie buried deep below legacy code and engineering. Only with meticulous planning and unwavering composure will they be unearthed.”

s.p.l.i.t. launches on July 24 for PC via Steam, Windows, and Linux. Meanwhile, Buckshot Roulette is slated to come to Xbox consoles sometime this year.

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June 21, 2025 0 comments