Gaming - Softonic English

Hasbro cancels the largest Dungeons & Dragons video game to date

Dungeons & Dragons is a franchise with decades behind it. Today being synonymous with role-playing games, few franchises have more prestige and renown associated with them. That’s why it’s not surprising that Hasbro and its subsidiary, Wizards of the Coast, want to exploit it by focusing on its potential for video games. But it seems that their biggest bet to date is not going to see the light of day. According to information from Jason Schreier at Bloomberg, the game has been canceled. A tremendously ambitious game without a public name, we already had quite a bit of information about what the game was going to be. […]

Dungeons & Dragons is a franchise with decades behind it. Today, being synonymous with role-playing games, few franchises have more prestige and renown associated with them. That is why it is not surprising that Hasbro and its subsidiary, Wizards of the Coast, want to exploit it by focusing on its potential for video games. But it seems that their biggest bet to date will not see the light of day. According to information from Jason Schreier at Bloomberg, the game has been canceled.

A tremendously ambitious game

Without a public name, we already had quite a bit of information about what the game was going to be. An AAA action game for a single player developed by Unreal Engine 5 by a newly created studio under the umbrella of Hasbro called Giant Skull, led by Stig Asmussen, director of God of War 3 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Fallen Order. Something they aimed to compete not only against the classic Dungeons & Dragons games, which have always had a medium budget, but to venture into high-budget games. Looking to go head-to-head against titans like EA or Square Enix.

Now the game has been canceled, according to statements from the company itself to Bloomberg. “We have decided not to move forward with an early concept of Giant Skull, but we have great respect for Stig Asmussen and his team, and we value our relationship,” a representative from Hasbro stated.

In any case, this is not the only recent editorial move by Hasbro. A closure of the internal studio Atomic Arcade also occurred in parallel, which was working on a Snake Eyes game, a character from the popular G.I. Joe toy franchise. Although it is not officially canceled, the game does not seem likely to see the light of day. And while they claim to still be interested in publishing video games, with their anticipated Warlock on the horizon, these cancellations raise suspicions that something is going wrong at Hasbro.

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The Lord of the Rings will have a new video game from the creators of the most celebrated RPG of 2025

The Lord of the Rings is one of the most beloved and celebrated franchises by the public, but it hasn’t been very prolific in video games in recent years. Or not as much as we would like. That seems to be changing in the near future with the announcement of a new video game based on the franchise by the creators of Kingdom Come: Deliverance. The kind of RPG that fans are hoping for In a tweet, they announced that they are working on new video games. One of them is an open-world RPG based in Middle-earth, the main setting of the adventures of […]

The RPG class that fans are waiting for

In a tweet they announced that they are working on new video games. One of them is an open-world RPG based on Middle-earth, the main setting of The Lord of the Rings adventures. The other is a new Kingdom Come adventure, although they have not clarified whether it is Kingdom Come: Deliverance III or some kind of spinoff, now that its creative designer has left the studio to pursue a career in film.

All of this coincides with the news that Embracer, the current owners of the rights to Tolkien’s adaptations, will split next year into two groups: Fellowship Entertainment and Embracer. The former will be dedicated to managing the IP of important rights such as The Lord of the Rings and Tomb Raider, in addition to the major studios they have, such as Warhorse Studios itself. The second will consist of smaller studios, the publishers PLAION and Limited Run Games, and the THQ Nordic group. The logic or reason for the separation between these two groups has not been explained.

Kingdome Come: Deliverance II was one of the most discussed games of 2025 and, for many people, the best RPG of the year. So it is interesting to see what its studio, Warhorse, will do with the rights to The Lord of the Rings. But we will still have to wait to find out, because no images or dates have been revealed yet for what will be Tolkien’s future in video games.

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Sony is facing a class action lawsuit due to Donald Trump

Sony could be in trouble. Two U.S. citizens from California have filed a class action lawsuit against the company, considering it illegitimate to raise the prices of their products to maintain their profits due to the tariffs imposed by the government of Donald Trump. Why? Because ultimately there have been no such tariffs and the government is going to compensate them for any losses they may have suffered as a result. An economically irresponsible government The full story is that, as promised, Donald Trump imposed harsh tariffs in the country, something that the Supreme Court of the United States overturned shortly […]

Sony may be in trouble. Two U.S. citizens from California have filed a class-action lawsuit against the company, arguing that it is illegitimate for them to raise the prices of their products to maintain their profits due to tariffs imposed by the government of Donald Trump.

Why? Because ultimately there have been no such tariffs and the government is going to compensate them for any losses they may have suffered as a result.

An economically irresponsible government

The full story is that, as promised, Donald Trump imposed harsh tariffs in the country, something that the Supreme Court of the United States annulled shortly after. Many companies raised their prices to offset the impact that this increase would have on their accounts, passing the cost onto citizens.

But upon annulling the tariffs, several companies sued the US government for the illegal application of these tariffs, potentially receiving up to 160 billion dollars in total refunds. And here lies the heart of the lawsuit. They consider it illegitimate to receive money from the government and, furthermore, to pass the cost of these increases onto users.

In fact, the laws work in their favor. The consumer protection law states that these price increases are not legal, giving them a chance to fight in court. This is further emphasized because it is not the only class action of this kind. Nintendo is also facing an identical lawsuit for the same reasons: American consumers do not want to pay twice for the loss of profits of companies.

Although everything is up in the air, how these lawsuits are decided could very well affect much more than the US. Both Sony and Nintendo have raised the prices of their products worldwide, and this could force them to lower them not only in the US but also outside of it. However, for that to happen, the courts will first have to make a ruling.

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PlayStation will not release its most beloved games on PC from now on

Jason Schreier, a video game journalist from Bloomberg who already talked about this information last March, has confirmed on Bluesky that the CEO of PlayStation Studio, Hermen Hulst, told his employees last Monday that the company will release its narrative games exclusively for PlayStation consoles. This will only affect games that provide a single-player experience, like Ghost of Yotei or the recent Saros, but not games that are multiplayer experiences, like Marathon or the anticipated Marvel Tokon. PlayStation wants you to play its games on its console This is […]

Jason Schreier, a video game journalist from Bloomberg who already spoke about this information last March, has confirmed on Bluesky that the CEO of PlayStation Studio, Hermen Hulst, told his employees last Monday that the company will release its narrative games exclusively for PlayStation consoles.

This will only affect games that provide a single-player experience, such as Ghost of Yotei or the recent Saros, but not games that are multiplayer experiences, like Marathon or the anticipated Marvel Tokon.

PlayStation wants you to play its games on its console

This is something that has been rumored for months, but there was no confirmation until now. This means that anyone who has played Sony games on PC, such as God of War or Ghost of Tsushima, will need a PlayStation 5 to play their sequels.

Although it is a commercially sensible measure, as it provides reasons to buy their hardware, it is also being perceived among users as a move against PC gamers. Many of them have invested their time and money in the games they have released on PC and have no interest in switching to console, even if they are interested in the franchises they have developed. This demonstrates a disconnect between the player base and Sony’s business interests.

Moreover, it does not seem to fit the economic reality of these titles. All of Sony’s narrative titles have sold millions on PC, extending their lifespan.While it is true that they have also faced, on more than one occasion, compatibility issues and less than optimal performance.

Pending official confirmation, it seems that PC users will no longer be able to enjoy Sony titles on their platform.

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The new Star Wars game and the one from the Call of Duty designer have something in common: a mysterious company funding them

Star Wars has a new RPG in the works. Although its release date is still a long way off, its announcement at the recent 2025 Games Awards caused a great stir. And it was for good reason. Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic is a sequel to the beloved RPG saga Knights of the Old Republic, created by Bioware, which was a hit during the 2000s. At the same time, the creative designer of Call of Duty: Black Ops, David Vonderhaar, has opened a studio called BulletFarm where he will create a spiritual successor to the popular game in the franchise […]

Star Wars has a new RPG in the works. Although its release date is still a long way off, its announcement at the recent 2025 Game Awards caused quite a stir. And it was for good reason. Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic is a sequel to the beloved RPG saga Knights of the Old Republic, created by Bioware, which was a huge success during the 2000s.

In turn, the creative designer of Call of Duty: Black Ops, David Vonderhaar, has opened a studio called BulletFarm where he aims to create a spiritual successor to the popular game from the Activision Blizzard franchise.

An unknown company, but less than it seems

What do these two games have in common? At first glance, nothing. We don’t know where the funding for either of them comes from. Until now. Because it has been discovered that the one financing the games of both studios is GreaterThanGroup, a business conglomerate previously unknown. But it is led by someone who is not unknown at all: Simon Zhu.

If the name doesn’t ring a bell, that’s normal. Simon Zhu was the president of NetEase until he left the company in 2025. During this time, he has been working to raise capital through investors to create his own company, GreaterThanGroup, where he can work freely on developing the games he believes in.

It’s not that Zhu lacks experience precisely. He is behind recent successes like Marvel Rivals or Where Winds Meet, demonstrating that he has a good eye for spotting trends.

And starting with designers of beloved franchises like Star Wars and the designers of Black Ops shows that it not only aimsto target the Asian audience but also to conquer the Western audience. This is why, in the future, it is important to keep the name GreaterThanGroup in mind.

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The writer of Half-Life wouldn't want to write Half-Life 3 even if his life depended on it

At Valve, they are busy with the Steam Machine and the newly released Steam Controller, but that doesn’t mean they are not still making games. Deadlock has been in closed alpha since at least August 2024, and any day could be its official launch. But what everyone is waiting for is the third installment of a legendary game. Everyone is waiting for Half-Life 3. Everyone except, apparently, Chet Faliszek, the writer of Half-Life 2, Portal, and Left 4 Dead. It’s hard to write a series with so much baggage. In a recent video posted on YouTube, the writer wanted to reflect on […]

At Valve, they are busy with the Steam Machine and the newly released Steam Controller, but that doesn’t mean they are not still making games. Deadlock has been in closed alpha since at least August 2024, and its official release could happen any day now. But what everyone is waiting for is the third installment of a legendary game. Everyone is waiting for Half-Life 3. Everyone except, apparently, Chet Faliszek, the writer of Half-Life 2, Portal, and Left 4 Dead.

It’s hard to write a series with so much baggage

In a recent video published on YouTube, the screenwriter wanted to reflect on his experience writing about video games. Clarifying that he does not want to imply that Half-Life 3 is being produced, in the video he emphasizes how his perspective on writing video games has changed. Especially, due to the reception that the franchise has had over time.

In that sense, he has stated that the problem he sees in making Half-Life 3 is that it has too much associated story. It has an enormous amount of baggage and he doesn’t believe it will be easy to tackle. In his own words, “I don’t want to touch anything that has a huge backstory”. He shields himself by saying that he doesn’t want to create something that will be scrutinized by fans in a way that any contradiction will be considered a sacrilege and a cause for maximum personal offense.

This is something that Valve itself agrees with. Gabe Newell has stated in the past that if Half-Life 3 does not exist yet, it is because they do not want to make it unless they think they can create something as unique and special as the previous ones. Therefore, if this highly anticipated third installment is ever announced, we will know for sure that a journey like no other awaits us.

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The director of Final Fantasy VII Remake is clear: young people do not connect with Final Fantasy

At Square Enix, they have a problem: Final Fantasy no longer connects with young people. A franchise historically known for connecting with teenagers and young adults is having trouble reaching its target audience. This is evidenced by the latest data from Circana, which states that 70% of players who bought Final Fantasy VII Rebirth in the United States were over 30 years old. Naoki Hamaguchi, the game’s director, claims to be “very aware of the need to consider how we can expand the potential of the Final Fantasy franchise as a whole for the next generation” and that at Square […]

At Square Enix, they have a problem: Final Fantasy no longer connects with young people. A franchise historically known for connecting with teenagers and young adults is struggling to reach its target audience.

Something that is demonstrated by the latest data from Circana, which states that 70% of players who bought Final Fantasy VII Rebirth in the United States were over 30 years old.

Naoki Hamaguchi, the game director, claims to be “very aware of the need to consider how we can expand the potential of the Final Fantasy franchise as a whole for the next generation” and that at Square Enix, when they finish the trilogy of Final Fantasy VII remakes, they want to “think about that expansion towards new audiences“.

On the other hand, this is not a new occurrence among the important leaders in the company. The director of Final Fantasy XIV and producer of Final Fantasy XVI, Naoki Yoshida, has also said something similar in the past. Stating that “the release intervals have stretched so much that some players simply have not had the chance to connect with the series as veteran fans did,” he believes that one of the reasons younger audiences connected with Final Fantasy was its fast release pace.

The numbers fit and do not add up

The data holds up. Between Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy X, the peak of the franchise’s popularity, seven years passed. Between Final Fantasy XII, XIII, XV, and XVI, seventeen years have passed. A whole lifetime for any child, teenager, or young adult.

For this reason, while it is impossible to prove that this is the cause of the franchise’s lack of popularity among young people, it seems to be a likely cause. Whether Square Enix will intervene on this, making more games faster or in another way, remains to be seen. Especially when Final Fantasy XVI, the latest game in the franchise, is from 2023 and a new installment has not yet been announced.

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The studio behind Lies of P sees AI as the future of its games and fans are not responding well

Neowiz, creators of Lies of P, the popular soulslike that mixed the story of Pinocchio with gameplay reminiscent of Bloodborne, has confirmed that they are looking to hire an AI Creator. This would be a profile specialized in using generative artificial intelligence tools to create art that would later be integrated into their games. Something that has generated discontent among the community. Trying to fix their own mess In any case, Neowiz’s intention is not to directly use what the AI creates within their games. The intention is for the AI Creator to use tools like Stable Diffusion, Midjourney […]

Neowiz, creators of Lies of P, the popular soulslike that mixed the story of Pinocchio with gameplay reminiscent of Bloodborne, has confirmed that they are looking to hire an AI Creator. This would be a profile specialized in using generative artificial intelligence tools to create art that will later be integrated into their games. This has generated discontent among the community.

Trying to fix your own mess

In any case, Neowiz’s intention is not to directly use what the AI creates within its games. The intention is for the AI Creator to use tools like Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, or others that may appear in the future to create concept art, sketches, textures, or references that artists will then use to create the final game art. Another of its functions will be to “identify the latest trends in generative AI and provide usage guides for artificial intelligence tools for internal artists,” according to the job listing itself.

All of this has not served to quell the anger of the fans, which has led the company to provide explanations in international media, such as PC Gamer. Stating that the idea is to use AI only for pre-production phases and repetitive tasks, with the work of the AI Creator being confined to that of an independent team.

Although Lies of P 2 should have already passed the pre-production phase and theoretically should not have any trace of AI, future projects remain in doubt from this point onward. Especially because the vision of generative AI between Asian countries, which is much more understanding and permissive, and the West, which has a nearly outright rejection, is becoming increasingly evident. And companies still haven’t understood this. Therefore, it is to be expected that more Asian studies will introduce generative AI. If not promoting it openly.

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The CEO of Hasbro wants you to start thinking of Dungeons & Dragons as a game as a service

Chris Cook, CEO of Hasbro, has revealed the new policy for Dungeons & Dragons in a recent interview with GamesRadar. Stating that the future of the game lies in resembling video games and their business model more closely, he asserted that players must come to terms with the fact that “Dungeons & Dragons is a game as a service” and that this will be the policy they will follow from now on with the game. A man with a business model in mind While Cook does not clarify in the interview what exactly he means by thinking of Dungeons […]

Chris Cook, CEO of Hasbro, has revealed what the new policy for Dungeons & Dragons is in a recent interview with GamesRadar. Stating that the future of the game lies in resembling video games and their business model, he has asserted that players must come to terms with the fact that “Dungeons & Dragons is a game as a service” and that this will be the policy they will follow from now on with the game.

A man with a business model in mind

While Cook does not clarify in the interview what he exactly means by thinking of Dungeons & Dragons as a game as a service, it seems he is referring exactly to this. Instead of having to wait for the release of the books, we can receive small periodic updates that keep us engaged and consuming constantly without having to wait a year and a half or two years until the book is ready. Thus articulating the game both in large seasonal events and smaller, more constant updates.

Something that fits perfectly with the two new initiatives from Wizards of the Coast, the developer of Dungeons & Dragons. On one hand, a seasonal release model focused on a particular event. On the other hand, weekly drops of new rules, different items, or digital cosmetics for your D&D Beyond account.

This aligns perfectly with both Cook’s policies and the decisions they have made for the near future of the game. When Cook took office, the first thing he did was declare his ambitions for Dungeons & Dragons to be digitized and to have a greater presence in the digital realm over the physical, emphasizing the need to give greater value to the computer and online game. Something that has only increased over time.

According to Cook, “books will always be an important part of Dungeons & Dragons,” but it seems he wants to change that process. Making books less important.And if that’s the case, and if games as a service like Fortnite and its microtransactions are any example, it is to be feared that he also wants to start charging us for things that until now he hasn’t been charging us for.

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D&D has fans across the globe, from those who played the first pen and paper editions to those who follow the many comics, movies, video games and board games that arose from this iconic fantasy setting. D&D Beyond is a brand-new era for the game, a digital toolset which allows players to read all about the setting, make characters and plan games entirely on the web or on devices. All the elements of the hard copy books are there, but now you can edit on the fly as if building a character for a computer game.

The most underrated The Legend of Zelda can be played on PC, but you won't find it by its name

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is one of the most divisive games in the franchise. On par with Zelda II: The Adventure of Link in terms of division among fans, it is one of those games that seems to evoke as much passion as hatred among the franchise’s fans. This has not stopped a group of modders from deciding to create an unofficial port for PC called Dusk. A change from Nintendo for an FPS or to be more precise, it was called. Because after talking with New Blood Interactive, the video game studio behind the FPS […]

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is one of the most divisive games in the franchise. On par with Zelda II: The Adventure of Link in terms of division among fans, it is one of those games that seems to evoke as much passion as hatred among the franchise’s fans. That hasn’t stopped a group of modders from deciding to create an unofficial port for PC called Dusk.

A Nintendo Change for an FPS

Or to be more precise, it was called. Because after speaking with New Blood Interactive, the video game studio behind the FPS named Dusk, they decided to change the name to Dusklight to ensure that there would be no errors or overlaps of any kind. Something that New Blood Interactive has tried in good faith at all times, going so far as to state that Twilight Princess “is the CEO of New Blood’s favorite Zelda, so all of this is a very funny coincidence.”

Dusklight offers a new way to play The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess without limitations. With the ability to play at higher resolutions, no frame rate limits, the option to add mods, and the ability to play on PC, it is a must-have for fans of the original. And the perfect opportunity to give it another chance for those who didn’t like it.

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