Digital RPG News
Moondrift Memory: Prologue makes use of Pathfinder 2E mechanics
Moondrift Memory: Prologue is a new game that uses the Pathfinder 2E mechanics, but unlike the Kingmaker games, will take place in its own world. The kickstarter will be launching in mid-March. It will, however, be using the same engine as the Kingmaker titles.
Moondrift Memory: Prologue by Streetlight Studio — Kickstarter
Fable has been delayed until 2026
Playground Games have announced that Fable will be delayed until 2026 to “make the best game possible.”
Pokemon Legends: Z-A
Pokemon Legends Z-A was announced during the Pokemon Select event, and the trailer showed off real-time battles as well as the ability to navigate rooftops. It’s no Assassin’s Creed, but it looks pretty fun.
Monaco II announced
Monaco is a great game from Pocketwatch games, and Monaco II is more of the same heist action ramped up to 11. Plus, Andy Shatz, the founder of Pocketwatch Games is a great guy with impeccable game design skills. There’s a reason the first game was heralded as the best co-op heist game ever.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a monthly game for March on PlayStation Plus
I’m pretty excited by this as well, even though I do not have a ton of time to play games right now. But I wanted to pick it up, and now I can play it on my PS5. Sonic Colors Ultimate and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection are also available on PlayStation Plus.
EVIL DUNGEON III is released for the Commodore 64
From the game information: EVIL DUNGEON III – Curse of the sorcerer is the sequel to EVIL DUNGEON II (C64) by Gregor Schillinger. Alrik and Valeria are on their way to the Academy of Magic Arts. But the Academy has been cursed by a cruel necromancer. This time, it’s up to our young sorceress Valeria to master this quest
C64 Getting a New Ultima-Style RPG
Sarah Jane Avory is creating Kouyate, a role-playing game inspired by the Ultima series, and like her Zeta Wing series, it will be developed for the Commodore 64.
The Commodore 64 Is Getting A New Ultima-Style RPG | Time Extension
BlizzCon is coming back in 2026!
Blizzard is reviving their annual convention, BlizzCon, in 2026. It will take place September 12th and 13th in the Anaheim Convention Center. It is the first BlizzCon since 2023 and also the first since Microsoft acquired the company.
Microsoft supposedly Targeting the Handheld Market this year
Microsoft has been flirting with the idea of bringing out a handheld, but it is looking more and more official. It is still in the rumor stages, though, so take it with a grain of salt.
Xbox’s new hardware plans begin with a gaming handheld in 2025 | Windows Central
Monsterpatch looks like a cross between Stardew Valley and Pokemon
If Stardew Valley And Pokémon Had A Baby, It Would Look Something Like Monsterpatch | Time Extension
Tabletop RPG News
Earnie Gygax has passed away
Earnie Gygax, son of Dungeons & Dragons co-founder Gary Gygax has passed away. He was known for creating the first magic user character, Tenser as well as a number of rules added to the game throughout its life under TSR.
Ernie Gygax Has Passed Away | EN World D&D & Tabletop RPG News & Reviews
Cubicle 7 Announces a new Horus Heresy RPG for Warhammer
The new Horus Heresy RPG takes place during the civil war of the Imperium of Man. The players will manage two characters, a space marine and another character with a special occupation.
It is set to release in 2026.
Cubicle 7 Announces New Horus Heresy RPG for Warhammer | EN World D&D & Tabletop RPG News & Reviews
Potato Head Beholder is teased by WizKids
Okay, this is just too cool. It’s a Beholder, but it is designed around the Mr. Potato Head concept so you get to figure out where to put the eyes/arms/etc to make this eldritch terror you own. So damn cool!
WizKids Unveils D&D Icons of the Realms: Potato Head Beholder Mini
DriveThru RPG Print-on-Demand Price Hike in the US
DriveThru RPG’s print-on-demand prices are going to go up by as much as 50% on some products in the US while similar products in the UK will be seeing a minor price drop.
RPGs for Accessible Gaming Bundle on itch.io
The RPGs for Accessible Gaming bundle on itch.io is currently available and running through March 22nd. There are a number of excellent table-top RPGs in the bundle, and it goes to an excellent cause. They want to create braille dice for sight-impaired players. As of this recording, they are at $18,000 of their $30,000 funding goal.
RPGs for Accessible Gaming by jesthehuman and 109 others – itch.io
Owlmanac is a bright light in the Shadowdark world
If you’re a fan of owls and bird puns, but like your coffee dark with a hint of eldritch terror, Owlmanac may be the game for you. It extends the Shadowdark rules with a series of owl-based classes like the Owlchemist. It also includes chapters on Shadowpork, Shadowbark, and Shadowduck to provide even more pun-based silliness into the mix. But it’s not all just pun and games. There is a ton of meat to the classes added.
Game Development News
Daily Deals program updated on Steam.
The Daily Deals program has added new metrics as well as two more game slots. This means that there will be six daily games available rather than the previous four.
Twitch embeds first third-party partner SteamElements into its dashboard.
SteamElements has integrated into the Twitch dashboard to bring sponsorship information. It will help with growth and showcasing of popular streams.
I’m not sure exactly how it works, but in a lot of these performance-based schemes, the popular streams stay popular because they’re been popular for a long time, and new streams have a much harder time being discovered. They may have fixed that, but it has proven a hard nut to crack for a lot of systems in the past.
Layoffs, Mergers, and Acquisitions
Jam City sells Ludia Game Studio.
Ludia Game Studio, the developers of several of the recent mobile Jurassic Park games, is being sold to a consortium of Canadian Institutional investors. Which, I’m sure will go well for the staff in about six months. I just hope I’m wrong.
Jam City sells Ludia game studio to Canadian institutional investors | VentureBeat
Once Reignbreaker is released, Studio Fizbin will close its doors.
After Thunderfall severely reduced staff, Studio Fizbin was looking for a way to keep the lights on after the release of ReignBreaker. However, they did not find a way to do that, and will close their doors after the release of the game.
Studio Fizbin shutting down after Reignbreaker’s mid-March release
Secret Mode splits from Sumo Group to become an independent publisher.
With all the bad news in recent weeks from Sumo Group in terms of layoffs, there is hope on the horizon at least for Secret Mode. But even that hope was short lived since they had to lay off a number of people to maintain their independence and keep the lights on until publishing contracts are signed.
It was sold to Emona Capital to keep the studio breathing for the time being.
Secret Mode splits from Sumo to become independent publisher
Kenji Ozawa has established Studio Sasanqua and is self-funding the venture.
Kenji Ozawa was the co-director behind Visions of Mana. Ouka Studios were closed down just after it’s release. Ozawa has stated that by self-funding the studio, he is the one who will assume any project failure. He bemoaned how studios put too much pressure on individual developers rather than mismanagement when products fail.
In the studio, the buck truly stops with him, and that is refreshing. It will be interesting to see what they release in the future.
Callisto Protocol developer Striking Distance lays off more developers.
The main reasoning given is that they need to stay operational and agile. There are no solid numbers, but employees have mentioned that most of the dev staff have been laid off.
The Callisto Protocol studio lays off more employees, but ‘remains operational’ | PC Gamer
Sony cutting jobs at Visual Arts and Malaysia Support Studios
Report: Sony cutting jobs at Visual Arts and Malaysia support studios
Respawn lays off staff, cancels another unannounced game
Electronic Arts releases the source code to Command & Conquer games under the GNU Public License
Electronic Arts has released the source code to several Command & Conquer games under the GPL:
-
- Command & Conquer
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert
- Command & Conquer: Renegade
- And the remasters of the original two games.
Acclaim is resurrected to support indies and classic franchises
A group of industry veterans have secured the name and plan on publishing indie titles as well as working to secure rights to the Acclaim library of intellectual property. This may be difficult since many of the properties were sold off many years ago. But it will be fun to see Acclaim’s name back in the game, though!
Acclaim returns from the dead to support indies and ‘reignite classic franchises’
In interesting marketing news. Activision Blizzard is using Generative AI to create ads for games that do not exist
This is interesting news for marketing peeps. Instead of A/B testing whether a specific ad is working better or giving people a survey that they most likely will never fill out, Activition Blizzard is using ads to advertise games that do not exist. They are using generative AI to create the ads for sequels or remasters, and when people click on them, they are taken to a page saying the game doesn’t exist, but fill out a survey to let them know you’re interested in it.
Honestly, if I clicked one of those ads, I’d be pissed because it’s like getting Rick Rolled by a marketing survey. But that’s just me. Still, it’s an interesting ploy and use of generative AI.
Activision Blizzard is using generative AI to hawk games that don’t exist
Once Reignbreaker is released, Studio Fizbin will close its doors
After Thunderfall severely reduced staff, Studio Fizbin was looking for a way to keep the lights on after the release of ReignBreaker. However, they did not find a way to do that, and will close their doors after the release of the game.
Studio Fizbin shutting down after Reignbreaker’s mid-March release
Secret Mode splits from Sumo Group to become an independent publisher
With all the bad news in recent weeks from Sumo Group in terms of layoffs, there is hope on the horizon at least for Secret Mode. But even that hope was short lived since they had to lay off a number of people to maintain their independence and keep the lights on until publishing contracts are signed.
It was sold to Emona Capital to keep the studio breathing for the time being.
Secret Mode splits from Sumo to become independent publisher
Kenji Ozawa has established Studio Sasanqua and is self-funding the venture
Kenji Ozawa was the co-director behind Visions of Mana. Ouka Studios were closed down just after it’s release. Ozawa has stated that by self-funding the studio, he is the one who will assume any project failure. He bemoaned how studios put too much pressure on individual developers rather than mismanagement when products fail.
In the studio, the buck truly stops with him, and that is refreshing. It will be interesting to see what they release in the future.
Monster Hunter Wilds sells 8 million units in three days
It shouldn’t exactly be news because it was one of the most anticipated titles of the year, but it has exceeded expectations in early sales. It has also skyrocketed to the top of all Capcom sales records.
Monster Hunter Wilds sells 8m units in three days | News-in-brief | GamesIndustry.biz
Capcom promotes Monster Hunter producer to chief product officer for all development
When you have a proven franchise that hits its targets time after time and often exceeds them, you have to do something. And Capcom has decided to promote Ryozo Tsujumoto to the chief product officer.
French Apex Legends voice cast refuses contracts of AI clause
Would you sign a contract that has an AI training clause? That’s what the voice cast of Apex Legends are running into, and they are (rightfully) worried that it could lead to their contracts not being renewed as the studio decides to replace them with AI generated with their voice samples.
French Apex Legends voice cast refuses contracts over “unacceptable” AI clause | GamesIndustry.biz
Jim Curry, Legacy of Kain writer, has passed away
Jim Curry, the marketing manager and writer on Legacy of Kain and the Gex series has passed away after a prolonged illness.
Legacy of Kain writer Jim Curry has died
Urban Dead free-to-play browser game killed by UK online safety laws
Urban Dead has been running for nearly 20 years, but will close down because of an child protection law in the UK.
The law states, “Platforms will be required to prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content and provide parents and children with clear and accessible ways to report problems online when they do arise.”
For small developers without a large amount of moderation resources, it is untenable to continue production and support of some games, especially community-centered, web-based ones.
Free-to-play browser game Urban Dead taken offline by UK’s online safety law
Featured Game
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies is a game that will most likely always exist on the Nintendo DS and not be ported, at least not without extensive changes, to other systems. The game relies heavily on the dual-screens, and even though some games like Etrian Odyssey have seen re-releases on the Switch, between the disbanded network play and much of the stylus-based interactions would be lost in translation since it leaned so heavily into the Nintendo DS features. And it is a shame that so few people will be able to experience this going forward. It was one of my favorites in the series.
Featured Tutorial
I am a sucker for really impressive effects, and one of the things I love to see in games, whether they be RPGs or fighting games or what have you are impact frames. If you haven’t heard of them, or are unsure exactly what they are, let me try to break it down for you a bit. Don’t worry, my explanation is just scratching the surface. The tutorials I’m linking to in After Effects and Unreal Engine will break it down into workable steps. I also added a video from Howard Wimshurst on how impact frames work in an animation to make it particularly impactful.
An impact frame is a high-contrast frame that is inserted at the point of contact. It is often used in anime when a punch lands or something explosive happens. By inserting the frame, it provides a visual cue to the brain that something big has just occurred. Because of this, though, it can less impactful over time if it is used for every punch instead of the final blow.
I’ve included links to an explainer video as well as a tutorial on using impact frames in After Effects and one in Unreal.
How to add IMPACT frames to your animation
How I add IMPACT FRAMES to my MMVs | After Effects Tutorial
On a related note in Unreal Engine, De Andrew Martin shows how he achieves the effect in his ArtStation tutorial. Give him some love.
ArtStation – Real-Time Impact Frames (Unreal Engine)
Make the maximum impact you can.