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Resident Evil Requiem’s gamescom Opening Night Live trailer has a lot of drama, not enough action

by admin August 20, 2025

Resident Evil Requiem has reminded everyone why it’s one of 2026’s most-anticipated games, having just reemerged to deliver something new for us to admire. That, of course, was a new trailer, broadcast live on the Opening Night Live stage.

Requiem has always seemed like a bit of an unusual Resident Evil, and though today’s look doesn’t change any of that, it signaled that it may not be the standard sequel some of us thought we’d be getting.

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The new trailer really is full of family drama. The game’s protagonist, Grace Ashcroft, is seemingly stuck with her mother, Alyssa Ashcroft, in a house where something bad is about to happen.

There’s some gameplay in this, but most of it is spooky, slow-walky stuff with flashlights pointed at things in almost complete darkness. It still looks pretty good, but I wish there was more going on in the footage.

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Requiem was announced in early June, following what felt like years of leaks. Unlike what most of us expected, however, it is not the open-world, Far Cry-inspired game those leaks made us expect. Instead, it’s a linear horror title with some action elements that takes place in the future of the Resident Evil universe.

Requiem stars the – seemingly easily frightened – Grace Ashcroft, who will be revisiting a devastated Raccoon City. The game is playable entirely in first and third-person. Requiem is in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S and is set for release February 27, 2026.

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August 20, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Jurassic World Evolution 3 Removes AI Art After Fans Yell A Lot

by admin June 25, 2025

Image: Frontier / Universal

When Jurassic World Evolution 3 was announced earlier this month, many fans were disappointed to learn that Frontier Developments was planning to include AI-generated artwork in the park sim. Now, after some “feedback” from fans, the studio is backing down and removing the AI slop.

Disney+ Pulls The Abyss Over Controversial Rat Scene — Again

The upcoming Jurassic World Evolution 3 looks like a big step forward for the dinosaur park builder series, with the franchise finally adding baby dinos after fans had begged for them to be included for many years. As a big fan of the first two games, I was super excited about Evolution 3, and it launches in October, so I don’t even have to wait long to start building dinosaur parks filled with tourists for my hungry prehistoric animals to eat. Then I learned that the game would include AI-generated scientist portraits, as explained in a disclosure on Evolution 3‘s Steam page, and my excitement deflated quite a lot. Thankfully, that crap is now gone.

On June 24, Frontier Developments posted on the game’s official Steam forums that it was removing the AI slop. GameWatcher reached out to the studio for clarification and received this statement, further confirming the removal of the AI content and explaining that it was because of “some initial feedback.”

We have removed the use of generative AI for scientists portraits in Jurassic World Evolution 3 following some initial feedback. The team are continuing their diligent work on the game and are very much looking forward to launching on 21 October.

I’m guessing “feedback” here was the hundreds of fan messages and posts across the internet complaining about the AI art and threatening to not buy the game if it was left in Jurassic World Evolution 3.

As of June 24, there is no longer an AI art disclosure on the game’s Steam page. Hopefully, that means there isn’t any other AI-generated content buried in the dino park builder and I can enjoy building (and then screwing up) dozens of big Jurassic Parks of my very own when Evolution 3 launches on October 10 on PC, Xbox, and PS5.

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June 25, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

These seven under-$50 tools make my tech life a lot easier

by admin June 21, 2025

We all use different tools in our varied, harried lives, things that help us do what we need and hopefully make things easier or less stressful in the process. As someone who spends my working life running this site, testing and reviewing all kinds of consumer hardware, and building several PCs a year, most of the tools I use and love revolve around that. But I’ve also recently jumped head-first into the world of 3D printing, and when I’m not working, I’m often tinkering on some home DIY project, trying to make my small apartment a little nicer.

Below are some of my go-to tools, from my trusty Hoto screwdriver (great for PCs and putting up shelves), to an SSD cloner, my favorite minimal multi-tool, and more. Hopefully you’ll also find a few of these helpful in your own life, or good gift ideas for someone in your life. Most are less than $20, with a few in the $30-$50 range. One thing I can say for sure is that, at least for me, they are all easily worth what I paid for them, as they make tasks big and small easier and more enjoyable.

🛠 Rosewill M.2 SSD Cloner

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A family member recently asked me for help with an older PC, which was desperately trying to run Windows 10 while housing several programs on an old 110 GB SSD. I figured, sure, I could clone the boot drive onto a more spacious drive so the OS and programs had more room to stretch their legs. But then the thought of using multiple USB enclosures or shuffling drives in and out of my desktop filled me with dread as I pictured being there for hours getting everything done and the system back up and running. So I looked into getting an M.2 SSD cloner, and was surprised to see they can be found for as little as $49.

Rosewill’s NVMe SSD cloner is one of the more affordable options, and while I don’t love its glossy plastic shell, it does support both NVMe M.2 drives as well as older AHCI models. Operation is about as simple as it gets. You plug in the included USB-C power adapter, put your source drive in the left slot, the destination drive in the right slot, press the power button on the back, and a few logos light up, letting you know you’re ready to go. Press the clone button on the top, and the cloning will commence (provided your destination is the same size or larger than your source).

That’s assuming you want to do an offline clone. But because I wanted to also resize the partition between the old 110 GB and the newer Team Group 512 GB SSD, I used the second included USB-C cable to connect the Rosewill cloner to my laptop and powered up the device. Within seconds, both drives were recognized in Windows, so I fired up the excellent free DiskGenius software, cloned the old partition to the new Team Group drive with a few clicks, and then used the software to drag the boot partition to the full size of the new drive. The whole process took just a few minutes; the Rosewill cloner supports 20 Gbps USB, and I wasn’t exactly copying a huge partition.

When the cloning process was finished, it was hard to believe it was all that easy. I had expected to be at my in-laws for hours, but I was done in less than 30 minutes. Sure, unless you’re in IT, a drive cloner might not be something you use all the time, but it’s handy to have around. You can also use it to save some money by buying a laptop with a cramped SSD and swapping in something much roomier – provided, of course, the laptop’s storage isn’t soldered to the motherboard.

The Rosewill cloner is also handy for just checking the contents of old M.2 drives you may have lying around. But if that’s all you need, you can buy an NVMe enclosure or a single-drive dock. I also own this model from Fideco, which costs less than $20.

🛠 Sangabery Digital Caliper

(Image credit: Sangabery)

While I use my tape measure more often around the house, when I need something more precise, I always reach for my digital caliper. I used a plastic model from Harbor Freight for years, and while it was mostly served my needs, it always felt like a toy and didn’t have as many features as this steel model from Sangabery. Would I trust it to be as accurate as models that cost more than $100? No, but for what I use it for – mostly measuring the thickness of laptops and making sure my print models are to scale and that what I want to 3D print will fit on my Anycubic Kobra 3 V2’s print bed, it works just fine.

🛠 HOTO NEX O1 PRO 3.6V Screwdriver Set

(Image credit: HOTO)

I build a lot of PCs, and I also do some home improvement work for myself and my family. So a cordless screwdriver is a nice thing to have – and a great cordless screwdriver makes my life a lot easier. I also own a much slimmer Wowstick, but have found HOTO’s NEX O1 Pro to be useful in more ways, thanks to its extra (and variable) torque. It’s great for loosening factory-installed screws on PC cases, and also good for assembling furniture.

The HOTO won’t replace my DeWalt drill for bigger, tougher jobs. But for mostly common tasks, it’s powerful enough, easy to charge over USB-C, and even looks good on my workbench.

As the grandson of a carpenter, I sometimes work on projects involving wood (I finished the Acacia wood of my testbench, which you’ll sometimes see in my photos), and more often now I’m often tweaking plastic 3D prints. So a deburring tool is something I reach for a couple of times a week. You can get plastic-handled models for a few dollars less, but this model costs less than $10 and has a nicer-feeling metal handle. It also comes with 12 blades, and comes in three color options.

Other common uses for a deburring tool include scraping burrs off of metal or PVC pipe, cleaning up traditional scale model parts, and more. It’s a handy tool to have for many purposes, and this one gets a prime spot in my desk drawer, where I reach for it often.

🛠 iSesamo Spudger + Mini iSesamo Spudger

A must have for cracking open thin laptops, as we always do when reviewing them, a spudger lets you get in between the tight seams of modern technology and pry things apart enough to (hopefully) release the clips holding things together. You can try to use things like guitar picks or (if you’re extremely careful) a small screwdriver. But a spudger is usually the best tool for this kind of job, and this two-pack (including a keychain-friendly mini model) is well worth the $12 I spent on it in 2023 (that’s also still how much it costs).

At least once a day, I need a box opener or a screwdriver. And sure, I could just carry around a multi-tool, but it’s convenient to have these things on my keychain – and all the more comfortable when that tool is basically the size of a key, like this tiny $10 tool from KeySmart. As someone who typically keeps their keys in their back pocket, I realy don’t want anything bulky. This simple multitool is a box opener, flat head, and Philips head screwdriver. It’s designed to be added to KeySmart’s modular key organizer system, but it also works well on a typical key ring, where it’s always within reach when you need it.

🛠 Baseus 65W Flat GaN wall charger

(Image credit: Amazon)

This last pick maybe pushes the boundaries of the word tool, but so much of what I do and use every day relies on USB power, whether it’s my laptop, Bluetooth speaker, my Hoto screwdriver, even the scale I use to portion out my morning coffee (and occasionally weigh products I’m reviewing). And this 65W charger from Baseus includes USB-C and USB-A charging ports and is small and slim enough that I can slip it in any bag (or evn in a back pocket) so I’m never without a charger for nearly all my essential things.

This is also one of my favorite chargers to take on vacation or work trips, because aside from its small size, its thin shape hugs the wall, helping it stay in worn-out hotel sockets much better than larger or different-shaped chargers. It delivers up to 45W via the USB-C port and 20W over USB-A. So it’s not going to charge everything as fast as possible, but it does quite well in a pinch and I like knowing it’s almost always with me if my phone or other device needs a recharge while I’m away from home.

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June 21, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

Ancestra says a lot about the current state of AI-generated videos

by admin June 19, 2025

After watching writer / director Eliza McNitt’s new short film Ancestra, I can see why a number of Hollywood studios are interested in generative AI. Many of the shots were made and refined solely with prompts, in collaboration with Google’s DeepMind team. It’s obvious what Darren Aronofsky’s AI-focused Primordial Soup production house and Google stand to gain from the normalization of this kind of creative workflow. But when you sit down to listen to McNitt and Aronofsky talk about how the short came together, it is hard not to think about generative AI’s potential to usher in a new era of “content” that feels like it was cooked up in a lab — and put scores of filmmakers out of work in the process.

Inspired by the story of McNitt’s own complicated birth, Ancestra zooms in on the life of an expectant mother (Audrey Corsa) as she prays for her soon-to-be-born baby’s heart defect to miraculously heal. Though the short features a number of real actors performing on practical sets, Google’s Gemini, Imagen, and Veo models were used to develop Ancestra’s shots of what’s racing through the mother’s mind and the tiny, dangerous hole inside of the baby’s heart. Inside the mother’s womb, we’re shown Blonde-esque close-ups of the baby, whose heartbeat gradually becomes part of the film’s soundtrack. And the woman’s ruminations on what it means to be a mother are visualized as a series of very short clips of other women with children, volcanic explosions, and stars being born after the Big Bang — all of which have a very stock-footage-by-way-of-gen-AI feel to them.

It’s all very sentimental, but the message being conveyed about the power of a mother’s love is cliched, particularly when it’s juxtaposed with what is essentially a montage of computer-generated nature footage. Visually Ancestra feels like a project that is trying to prove how all of the AI slop videos flooding the internet are actually something to be excited about. The film is so lacking in fascinating narrative substance, though, that it feels like a rather weak argument in favor of Hollywood’s rush to get to the slop trough while it’s hot.

As McNitt smash cuts to quick shots of different kinds of animals nurturing their young and close-ups of holes being filled in by microscopic organisms, you can tell that those visuals account for a large chunk of the film’s AI underpinnings. They each feel like another example of text-to-video models’ ability to churn out uncanny-looking, decontextualized footage that would be difficult to incorporate into fully produced film. But in the behind-the-scenes making-of video that Google shared in its announcement last week, McNitt speaks at length about how, when faced with the difficult prospect of having to cast a real baby, it made much more sense to her to create a fake one with Google’s models.

“There’s just nothing like a human performance and the kind of emotion that an actor can evoke,” McNitt explains. “But when I wrote that there would be a newborn baby, I did not know the solution of how we would [shoot] that because you can’t get a baby to act.”

Filmmaking with infants poses all kinds of production challenges that simply aren’t an issue with CGI babies and doll props. But going the gen AI route also presented McNitt with the opportunity to make her film even more personal by using old photos of herself as a newborn to serve as the basis for the fake baby’s face.

With a bit of fine-tuning, Ancestra’s production team was able to combine shots of Corsa and the fake baby to create scenes in which they almost, but not quite, appear to be interacting as if both were real actors. If you look closely in wider shots, you can see that the mother’s hand seems to be hovering just above her child because the baby isn’t really there. But the scene moves by so quickly that it doesn’t immediately stand out, and it’s far less “AI-looking” than the film’s more fantastical shots meant to represent the hole in the baby’s heart being healed by the mother’s will.

Though McNitt notes how “hundreds of people” were involved in the process of creating Ancestra, one of the behind-the-scenes video’s biggest takeaways is how relatively small the project’s production team was compared to what you might see on a more traditional short film telling the same story. Hiring more artists to conceptualize and then craft Ancestra’s visuals would have undoubtedly made the film more expensive and time-consuming to finish. Especially for indie filmmakers and up-and-coming creatives who don’t have unlimited resources at their disposal, those are the sorts of challenges that can be exceedingly difficult to overcome.

Image: Google

But Ancestra also feels like a case study in how generative AI stands to eliminate jobs that once would have gone to people. The argument is often that AI is a tool, and that jobs will shift rather than be replaced. Yet it’s hard to imagine studio executives genuinely believing in a future where today’s VFX specialists, concept artists, and storyboarders have transitioned into jobs as prompt writers who are compensated well enough to sustain their livelihoods. This was a huge part of what drove Hollywood’s film / TV actors and writers to strike in 2023. It’s also why video game performers have been on strike for the better part of the past year, and it feels irresponsible to dismiss these concerns as people simply being afraid of innovation or resistant to change.

In the making-of video, Aronofsky points out that cutting-edge technology has always played an integral role in the filmmaking business. You would be hard-pressed today to find a modern film or series that wasn’t produced with the use of powerful digital tools that didn’t exist a few decades ago. There are things about Ancestra’s use of generative AI that definitely make it seem like a demonstration of how Google’s models could, theoretically and with enough high-quality training data, become sophisticated enough to create footage that people would actually want to watch in a theater. But the way Aronofsky goes stony-faced and responds “not good” when one of Google’s DeepMind researchers explains that Veo can only generate eight-second-long clips says a lot about where generative AI is right now and Ancestra as a creative endeavor.

It feels like McNitt is telling on herself a bit when she talks about how the generative models’ output influenced the way she wrote Ancestra. She says “both things really informed each other,” but that sounds like a very positive way of spinning the fact that Veo’s technical limitations required her to write dialogue that could be matched to a series of clips vaguely tied to the concepts of motherhood and childbirth. This all makes it seem like, at times, McNitt’s core authorial intent had to be deprioritized in favor of working with whatever the AI models spat out. Had it been the other way around, Ancestra might have wound up telling a much more interesting story. But there’s very little about Ancestra’s narrative or, to be honest, its visuals that is so groundbreaking that it feels like an example of why Hollywood should be rushing to embrace this technology whole cloth.

Films produced with more generative AI might be cheaper and faster to make, but the technology as it exists now doesn’t really seem capable of producing art that would put butts in movie theaters or push people to sign up for another streaming service. And it’s important to bear in mind that, at the end of the day, Ancestra is really just an ad meant to drum up hype for Google, which is something none of us should be rushing to do.

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June 19, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Out-of-warranty Switch 2 repairs are a lot more expensive than the original console’s

by admin June 6, 2025

The Nintendo Switch 2 comes with a one-year limited warranty that covers the cost of repairing unexpected defects, but any damage that falls outside that coverage will cost you. Avoiding that could be key, because based on Nintendo’s customer repair portal, paying to fix a Switch 2 is noticeably more expensive than repairing an older Switch.

Now, prices could vary depending on how your Switch 2 or its accessories are damaged. Just looking at repairing water damage specifically, though, here’s how prices break down:

Console: $179
Dock: $66
Camera: $30
AC Adapter: $18
Pro Controller: $48

For comparison, fixing up a water-damaged Switch OLED costs $139, $40 less than it costs to fix a Switch 2. The original Switch dock and the original Pro Controller both costs $30 to repair, $33 and $18 cheaper, respectively. The only real outlier from the general trend of Switch 2 hardware costing more to service is the Joy-Con 2 controllers. Whether the stick feels loose or the magnets won’t attach, Nintendo is apparently willing to fix a Joy-Con 2 controller for free.

Maybe the hardware changes the company made to improve the performance of the sticks also made them easier to repair. Or maybe free repairs is some sort of quiet make-good for the well-documented stick-drift issues that plagued the original Joy-Con controllers. Either way, it’s a small bright spot in what otherwise seems like a potentially pricey repair process.

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June 6, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Get ready to grind: there’s not a lot going on in the Monster Hunter Wilds Event Quests scheduled for the next couple of weeks

by admin June 3, 2025

A new week brings with it a fresh set of Monster Hunter Wilds Event Quests, just like we’ve gotten used to since the introduction of the feature a little while after the game launched. This is somewhat of a quiet batch, however, possibly because Wilds recently received a big update that introduced Akuma as a playable character, as part of the game’s Street Fighter cross-over event.

Akuma comes with his own quests, of course, so perhaps Capcom didn’t want to take too much away from the raging demon’s big moment. Nevertheless, anyone logging in these next couple of weeks will have some quests to tackle.

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This new set of Event Quests covers this week and next week. Put another way, you have May 28-June 3, June 4-June 10, and June 11-17. Notably, there are no Challenge Quests in any of those weeks, meaning you’ll just be dealing with Event Quests.

As always, once a quest becomes available, you’ll be able to attempt it as often as you’d like, until it’s gone. If you log in regularly, you’ll notice that quests repeat pretty regularly, so don’t fret if you miss something, it’s bound to come back again at some point.

Read on below for the full schedule:

May 28 to June 3

King of a Faraway Sky – 6 Stars (HR 31 or higher) – Hunt the Tempered Guardian Rathalos to obtain Artian materials for use in crafting Artian weapons.
Running Wild – 5 Stars (HR 21 or higher) – Hunt the Guardian Fulgur Anjanath to obtain Sealed Dragon Cloth α headgear!

June 4 to June 10

Three Tails Better Than None – 4 Stars (HR16 or higher) – Hunt the Quematrice to obtain special materials and earn the paw-some Faux Felyne α headgear.
Tongue-Tied – 5 Stars (HR 21 or higher) – Hunt the the Tempered Chatacabra to obtain Hard Armor Spheres and Advanced Armor Spheres.
Anguish and Atrocity – 5 Stars (HR 21 or higher) – Hunt the Guardian Doshaguma to gain a lot of Hunter Rank Points.

June 11 to 17

Three Tails Better Than None – 4 Stars (HR16 or higher) – Hunt the Quematrice to obtain special materials and earn the paw-some Faux Felyne α headgear.
Ballet in the Rain – 5 Stars (HR 21 or higher) – Hunt the Tempered Lala Barina to obtain Glowing Orb – Swords Decorations.
Sand-Scarred Soul – 5 Stars (HR 9 or higher) – Hunt the Doshaguma to obtain Glowing Orb – Armors Decorations.

Monster Hunter Wilds is a pretty dense game, so if you’re ever lost, our Monster Hunter Wilds guide is always here; ready to deliver.

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June 3, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

New Season 14 King Of The Hill Intro Implies A Lot Has Changed

by admin May 31, 2025

Screenshot: Hulu / Disney

King of the Hill is back. The popular animated sitcom from Mike Judge is returning for a 14th season on Hulu. But, as shown in the show’s new intro sequence, a lot has changed in Arlen, Texas.

Firefight’s Back In Halo! What Is Firefight?

The original King of the Hill ran on Fox from 1997 to 2009. In that time, it produced 13 seasons and over 250 episodes. The first talks of reviving the grounded adult animated sitcom started back in 2017, before Disney had bought 2oth Century Fox. Now, nearly a decade after we first heard about a possible King of the Hill revival and over 15 years after the show ended, Hank Hill and his family and friends will be returning to TV with 10 new episodes in August.

On May 30, Hulu released the new intro sequence for the show’s 14th season. While it features the same music and uses the same time-lapse format as seen in the OG show’s opening, this new sequence implies a lot has happened over the last 15 years.

There are a lot of little details to spot in the intro, including Bill potentially getting COVID-19, Dale running for mayor, and someone moving into Hank’s home for a few years while he and the family are away.

And here’s Hulu’s official description of the returning show and its 14th season:

“After years working a propane job in Saudi Arabia to earn their retirement nest egg, Hank and Peggy Hill return to a changed Arlen, Texas to reconnect with old friends Dale, Boomhauer and Bill. Meanwhile, Bobby is living his dream as a chef in Dallas and enjoying his 20s with his former classmates Connie, Joseph and Chane.”

King of the Hill’s 14th season arrives on Hulu on August 4.

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May 31, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

The Nintendo Switch Phone App Just Got A Lot Better

by admin May 29, 2025

Screenshot: Nintendo / Kotaku

The Nintendo Switch 2 launches in exactly one week, and in the lead up to the new console, Nintendo has updated the Nintendo Switch Online app and made it much more useful. It also has a new, pithier name. Say goodbye to the Nintendo Switch Online App, and say hello to the Nintendo Switch App.

Nintendo Switch 2 Could Launch With Almost No Reviews

On May 28, Nintendo quietly pushed out update 3.0.1 for the Nintendo Switch Online app. As mentioned, this abbreviated the app’s name and also reworked some of its UI. But the big news is that the Switch App will now let you upload screenshots and videos from the Switch 2 directly to your phone without needing to use a QR code. You can even set the Switch 2 to automatically upload up to 100 screenshots and videos to the app. These will remain available to download from your phone for 30 days. Even better, this new feature is available for free, no paid Switch Online membership is needed. However, this new option is only available on the Switch 2.

Some other great changes include the ability to add friends via the app itself, and the ability to receive notifications on your phone when your friends log on.

A lot of these features are things that have existed in Sony and Microsoft’s apps and consoles for years now, so it does feel like Nintendo is finally catching up. Still, it’s nice that the Switch app on phones will feel more modern and be far more useful. As someone who never shared a screenshot from my Switch to my phone, I was gobsmacked that you had to use a QR code and transfer it over wifi. Using the cloud and letting the console do it automatically is a huge improvement.

Here are the full patch notes for the big update:

Switch App 3.0.1 patch notes

The app name has changed from Nintendo Switch Online to Nintendo Switch App. Elements of the app design have been updated.
Nintendo Switch 2 consoles are now supported.
Screenshots and videos saved in your console’s album can now be uploaded to the app.
You can now receive GameChat invitations.
More friend features are now available in the app.
You can now add friends via the app.
You can choose to receive a notification in the app when a friend comes online.

Various other small improvements and bug fixes have been made.

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May 29, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

‘Wednesday’ Season 2 Promises a Lot More Addams Family Antics

by admin May 20, 2025

Jenna Ortega is still the star. The show is still called Wednesday. But season two of Tim Burton’s Netflix hit will be widening its focus a bit to focus more on Wednesday’s notorious family—and the actors who play the other Addams couldn’t be more thrilled. Catherine Zeta-Jones, who plays Morticia, even gets to show off her sword-fighting skills, and while we’re not sure how that’s going to fit into the show’s new mystery, we are now even more excited to see it unfold.

A new featurette shared by Netflix offers a tantalizing tease of season two, with Ortega, Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzmán (Gomez), and more—including executive producer and director Burton—talking about what’s to come.

Co-showrunners and creators Miles Millar and Alfred Gough promise more “Addams family lore,” as well as an expanded scope and character arcs. We’ll also get to see a lot more of Nevermore Academy, Wednesday’s curse-plagued boarding school, where her brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) is now also a student (“an outcast among outcasts,” according to Burton).

We also get a glimpse of Joanna Lumley as Grandmama, delivering what looks to be an appropriately high camp performance.

Wednesday season two arrives in two parts, on August 6 and September 3.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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May 20, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

LEGO seemingly shuts down Bionicle fan game after 8 years of development, because as we all know Bionicle is a scorching hot IP that the company is doing a lot with right now

by admin May 20, 2025

Bionicle: Masks of Power – a fan game that has been in development for eight years – has been shut down following a request from The LEGO Group, its developers claim.

In a statement released to the public via a Google Doc, the team broke down the situation for fans who’ve been waiting to actually play the game after all this time. The devs, who were preparing to drop a demo this August, claim that LEGO reached out to request they shut down development on the project and remove the game from the public eye.

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In the statement, the team expressed its historical intention to keep in line with the official LEGO Fair Play Guidelines, as to not draw the eye of an legal action from LEGO looking to protect its copyright. Despite these intentions, the hammer has seemingly come down. While it says no official reason for the takedown was given, the team suspects that it was because the average person may mistake the game for an official game, rather than a fan project. It seems this fan game was a victim of its own good SEO.

In reaction to the news, the development team has released a walkthrough of the demo, and has decided to form a new indie studio: Unmasked Games. That name is great by the way, hinting towards its Bionicle roots but taking the mask off for future endeavors. They conclude the statement with the following: “This has been heartbreaking news for our entire team, but we’re also incredibly excited about what the future has in store, and for what we’ll get the chance to create next. We hope that you’re all just as excited as we are. For the final time… May the Great Spirit guide you.”

Bionicle has been a dead IP product line since 2010 by the way. That’s the last time any actual toys were produced by The LEGO group. There was a series of comics written by Greg Farshtey, though that has also been dead for over a decade. It’s clear that the Bionicle IP is scorching hot, something LEGO is clearly doing a lot with. Sarcasm aside, such are the ways of legal departments. IP must be protected, even for IP that has had no development or frankly relevancy for over a decade. That is, aside from a relatively small community of fans who were, until very recently, excited for a new fan game. Damn shame!

It’s a bummer. It’s a common belief that the best way to approach making fan games is to “shut the f**k up”, but obviously not all fan project teams have the luxury of silence and a sudden shadow drop before any cease and desist can come through and ruin all the fun. Still, if you were excited for Mask of Power, why not give the folks at Unmasked Games some love, and support them going forward.

We’ve reached out to The LEGO Group for comment, and will update this article if and when we get a response.

When’s the last time you even thought about Bionicle, this fan game aside? Let us know below.

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May 20, 2025 0 comments